A Maze in the Mist
by EuphoniumGurl0
Summary: [Complete w Epilogue]Pre HBP Draco comes back to Hogwarts the same person he's been since first year, just a little more mature. His best friend has a thing for the little mudblood; is there a way to get his mind off her, and earn himself a bit of gold? Y
1. I'm Always Wanting You

A/N: Alright, this is another one of my Hermione/Draco stories. I love the pairing because it reminds me of my and my boyfriend. Please review and let me know what you think, and I'll see if it's fit to put in the story. Ideas are appreciated. I'm looking for a beta so email me of IM me on yahoo, AIM on euphoniumgurl0 or email me.  
  
Dedicated to: Jesse Ringness  
  
A Maze in the Mist  
  
Chapter 1: I'm Always Wanting You  
  
'Bloody hell! She is drunk. I think... Wait, no she isn't. Then why is she singing songs in the compartment, and why is Mudblood sitting alone on the train? I wouldn't well thought that Granger would be sitting with Weasley and Potter.'  
  
'Well, it's my duty to go in and accompany her. Even if she is a Mudblood.' A now six foot four Draco walked in the compartment and sat across from a five foot eight Granger.  
  
"What do you want Malfoy?" He looked into her eyes. She was easy to read, like a book. Her eyes told everything, and the minute she realized he was looking into her eyes she completely shut off, "I ask again, Malfoy. What are you doing in my compartment?"  
  
"Wondering why Potter and Weasley aren't here." He answered as a flicker of emotion passed through her eyes. So it was about them. He wondered if they were off shagging each other.  
  
"Wondering why Harry and Ron aren't here?" Hermione gulped down. This was too easy.  
  
"Did I stutter, Granger?" Asked Draco snidely. It was an automatic response which usually pushed people away. That was how he liked it. He was in control without everyone else being aware of it. This is how the Malfoys owned half the world, and now that his father was in prison, everything was all his.  
  
"Get out." Hermione answered without even looking at him. She was wondering two things, he knew for sure: Why he wasn't using petty nicknames, and why he hadn't tried to kill her after fifth year like he said he would.  
  
"No. I'm perfectly content right here. Besides, there are no other compartments open." She growled slightly but nodded for him to sit down. He flopped down on the seat across from her and looked out the window.  
  
"So did you make Head Girl?" Draco tried to make some polite conversation. Even though he had so much history with his father... Bad history... He still learned manners and manners were a thing he would always have.  
  
"Of course. I thought I wouldn't though considering there are so many people that come from families much more-" He waved her off.  
  
"Come off it, Granger. You're Dumbledore's favorite Golden Girl. He wouldn't give the position to anyone else for one, for two Dumbledore doesn't care about heritage like I do per say." Draco answered as she started to fume.  
  
"Get out Malfoy."  
  
"No." She slouched back down in her seat angrily. He smirked his family smirk and began to gaze out the window again.  
  
Hermione looked out the other side of the window obviously not in the mood to read another book. Something was bothering her, and it had to do with Boy Wonder and his trusty sidekick. So he grew out of petty nicknames, that didn't mean he had to stop using them in his mind from time to time.  
  
"Come on, Granger. Tell me." She looked up slightly and looked back out without so much as a trace of emotion on her face. She was smart this one. Too bad she had dirty blood.  
  
"Malfoy. Shut your bloody mouth before I make you." She threatened, obviously not the type to just cry out their problems when confronted.  
  
"I'd like to see you try." He challenged her, smirking. She wouldn't do anything. She was the peace maker not the fighter. That was obvious.  
  
"I'll take off points." She hadn't realized this is the heads compartment. Obviously she was a little off today.  
  
"And I'll give them right back." She immediately got the message, and a look of understanding spread over her face as she sighed loudly, "Don't you want to share your feelings, Granger?" He remarked sarcastically.  
  
"Not particularly." She answered as she gazed out the window. They had spent a surprising amount arguing and a booming voice rang through the train for prefects to meet in front.  
  
Draco took off his shirt followed by his pants to show his chiseled chest and milky skin. Hermione cast a quick spell for the curtain and did the same, not paying attention to Malfoy's body at all. They changed quickly, and before they knew it, everyone was entering.  
  
"So you are the new prefects for this year. Introduce yourselves and your house, and let me introduce our new Head Boy and Girl: Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger of Slytherin and Gryffindor." McGonagall spoke quickly as she explained the rules and told Draco and Hermione to stay after the sorting to get their new room assignments.  
  
They all nodded in agreement to patrol the halls every few minutes, and with that McGonagall left quickly to apperate to the gates of Hogwarts.  
  
"I hope you will find these satisfactory enough for all your accomplishments. I already have gone over the rules, but let me remind the two of you: No fighting with each other; no prejudice between houses; no breaking the rules; no taking away points for unnecessary reasons." She looked at Draco for the last one, and he just smirked at her. "You will have access to all common rooms and are expected to plan the Halloween feast as well as all other feasts and balls." Her face then softened and frowned, "I want none of this Slytherin/Gryffindor; Pureblood/Muggleborn nonsense." With that she walked out of sight.  
  
"What shall your password be Miss..." A handsome young man asked in a husky voice eyeing Hermione with pleasure.  
  
"Hermione Granger. It will be ferret. Thank you, Ben." Hermione smiled slightly and walked into their new common room, ignoring the look Malfoy was sending her.  
  
It was a decent space with a star speckled ceiling, blue walls, and white furniture. He looked over and saw a door saying Head Boy: Draco Malfoy Slytherin, a door saying Head Girl: Hermione Granger Gryffindor, doors saying Gryffindor Common, Ravenclaw Common, Hufflepuff Common, Slytherin Common, and some desks and bookshelves. It wasn't as grand as the Malfoy Manor, but it was a start.  
  
Draco entered his room and smirked at seeing dark green walls with a king sized four poster with green and silver, a closet, a desk, a bookshelf, and another door leading somewhere. He would have to research something to enlarge the room later.  
  
He entered the door to find a bathroom a lot larger than the prefects bathroom. He saw another door at the end of the bathroom and smirked. He and Granger were sharing one bathroom. He was curious to see what the bookworm had under her baggy clothes.  
  
He returned to his room and went into his closet which was full of all his robes and other things he had brought from home. He grasped his new Firebolt Midnight and rushed out the closet. He saw balcony doors he hadn't noticed before and went outside. The balcony had a nice view of the mountains and of the lake. He saw movement from another door and realized Granger and himself would be sharing this balcony also. He frowned deeply as he mounted his broom for a nice night fly. A Malfoy could never sleep more than needed.  
  
Draco woke up with a sneer on his face. Today was Saturday. He couldn't remember the last time September 2nd was on a Saturday. Generally it was somewhere in the week, but it was logical for it to happen once in seven years.  
  
He grabbed his robes and went into the bathroom to hear nothing but peace. Then again, why would she be up? It was Saturday and with all the business going on at the Malfoy Manor there was never any time to sleep in. He turned on the water to the bathtub and pressed down a few taps to let out a nice aroma. Malfoys never played with anything.  
  
He took off his boxers and stepped in the water. Draco wouldn't bother with silly swim trunks when Granger wasn't bound to wake up in the twenty minutes he would take in the bathroom. He grasped onto his wand and cast a silencing charm around the bathroom so he could listen to some music. With that he cast another spell he learned from his friend Blaise Zabini for music. Simply think of the band and song and it comes on.  
  
'Wouldn't some Blink-182 be nice right about now? All of this.' The song came on, and he relaxed in the bath. He closed his eyes, and he never heard the door of the bathroom open and shut just as quickly. He never saw a tomato Hermione dash out of the bathroom into her room.   
  
After a few minutes of relaxation, he stepped out of the bath and wrapped a towel around his waist. He shook his hair slightly to get off some of the water that was dripping on him. He pulled on some boxers, a shirt, and some pants before he pulled on a black robe since it wasn't school. He took some gel that he was about to slick his hair back with when he thought he would try something new for his semi-long hair. Draco took some gel onto his hand and spread it onto his wet hair. He shook his head slightly with the gel on it and took a blow dryer to dry it.  
  
He smirked at the face that was showing back through the mirror, "I quite like that." The mirror agreed with his thoughts With his cream hair and milky white skin he looked quite dashing, and he knew it. Perfect.  
  
He took the silencing spell off. Then he cast a quick spell to clean the bathroom. With a satisfied smirk he left the bathroom and walked down to breakfast.  
  
"Malfoy. What's with the hair?" Blaise asked him smirking at his hair. Draco drooped down next to him as a snake would and smirked himself.  
  
"Thought I'd try something else. Something new." Draco replied to his oldest and best friend who just nodded at him.  
  
"So what do you think of Granger this year?" Blaise asked as Hermione walked to the almost empty Gryffindor table to sit next to Seamus Finnigan since her friends were most likely sleeping.  
  
"She's a Mudblood, you're not supposed to think anything of them." Draco replied, scooping on some eggs and bacon.  
  
"Come on, Draco. She's nice on the eyes. You're sharing a dorm with her. You could have her since she has to be a wild one and a nice shag." Blaise commented looking at Granger's choice of tank top and pants.  
  
"She's a Mudblood." Draco repeated as he looked sternly at Blaise, "What would your father say?" Draco more commented then asked.  
  
Blaise just shrugged, "My father doesn't control me, nor does yours. We'll be on our own after this year. We have to make our own decisions." Blaise commented.  
  
"I will not sink so low as to have a Mudblood in my bed, besides, you know I'm not the easiest person to get-"  
  
"The hardest. I've never seen anyone turn down so many shags." Blaise interrupted.  
  
Draco just ignored his comment and went on, "I will not associate with Mudbloods and disgrace my family name." Draco finished eyeing Granger and then his friend, "You can, however, go ahead if you want. Just don't blame me when no decent Pureblood wants to marry you after you've shagged a Mudblood." Draco stated.  
  
"It's only one shag, mate. Besides, if I break the Golden girl I'll be a celebrity." Blaise sneered as Potter and Weasley walked into the hall looking very disoriented.  
  
'That reminds me. I wonder why Granger wasn't with Potter and Weasley. I have to find out about that later.' Draco thought as he saw some kind of apology transpiring between the three.  
  
"If you do, you might as bloody well make sure she breaks up Potter and Weasley. We'll have all the power if they separate." Draco transpired to Blaise, mentally making plans on what to do when that day comes.  
  
"That'll be just fine, mate." Blaise smirked, looking at Hermione. Draco could feel what Blaise was trying to do. Hopefully, he wouldn't use any force with her. Some Slytherins would do anything to get what they wanted. Draco had pride and would get something his own way.  
  
Draco finished eating and stood up to leave the Great Hall.  
  
Making his way towards the common room he felt an arm slink onto his. He turned around and sneered at the pug faced girl, "Leave Pansy. I will tell Goyle that you'll want to give him a blow job." Draco threatened. Gods, this girl was annoying.  
  
"Come on Draco. The Mudblood can't give you what I can." Pansy slurred making her words hardly understandable.  
  
"The Mudblood and I are living together because we are Heads, Pansy. Now go away. I do not want you, nor have I ever wanted you. Leave." He ordered as he walked away before she could make another protests. Gads.  
  
Walking into the common room, Draco saw Granger with a book propped up against her leg. Draco didn't give her legs a second thought as he grabbed his wand and put on a spell. He felt like annoying someone. He was still somewhat a child, and sometimes it had to come out. 'On with some Sum 41. They are one of my favorite Wizarding bands. How about Thanks for Nothing?' He thought as the music blasted through the common room.  
  
"Didn't know you liked Muggle alternative bands, Malfoy." The Mudblood teased him, thinking she had something on him.  
  
He snorted loudly, "Are you daft, Granger? All have decent bands or singers are Wizards and Witches. How do you think they got their voices. Well, I wouldn't say that Deryck from Sum 41 has a nice voice, so he does it on his own." He told her snorting again.  
  
"Really? Then why isn't everyone in the world a singer?" Hermione challenged, thinking she had stumped him again.  
  
"You really are dafter than I would have thought anyone could manage with so many O.W.Ls. No one wants to put up with Muggles, or write songs, and they don't even get paid that much until they retire. Everything is the recording company's." Draco answered without hesitation. He saw that last question a mile away. He wondered to himself about how someone so smart could be so dumb sometimes, ignoring the glares she was sending him.  
  
"What about people like Hilary Duff. She doesn't write her own music, she's too stupid to be a witch, and her songs are relatively pointless." 'True.' Draco thought. I mean how smart do you have to be not to be able to come up with lines like 'If the light is on then it isn't off.'?  
  
"Muggle. Kind of shows the world what America is like if she's the number one Muggle artist over there. All Wizards naturally don't listen to that. Can she be any more obvious?" Draco asked as the mood lightened.  
  
" If the light is on then it isn't off." Hermione mocked singed as herself and Draco started laughing at what they both had in mind. A song called Change Clothes by Jay Z came on in the background meanwhile.  
  
"I can just see her trying to get the writers to make even worse lyrics; How about; When I shut the door, the door is closed." Draco started to laugh which he noticed Hermione note was really a soft look for him.  
  
"How about something like: The clock counts the time with minutes, hours and seconds?" Hermione managed through sprints of laughter.  
  
"At night the sky turns darker."  
  
"When I touch hot food, my fingers get burned." Hermione added with a big laugh. The song switched again by the time they were done making '"Hilary Duff out to be as big a fool as she was.  
  
Draco seemed to sense what had happened and frowned. Society wouldn't approve of a Pureblood getting along with someone with dirty blood such as herself, even if it was for such a short period.  
  
"Listen, Malfoy, maybe we should try to get along for a while to set an example for younger students.  
  
Draco thought about this for a long time and with a decided sigh he shook his head. This wasn't going to be approved, "No."  
  
A/N: REVIEW!! It's very in character, I have to say. 


	2. I Don't Know Who I Am

A/N: Thanks to my lone reviewer. You rock! I hate when things drag out too much so I'm cutting to the chase soon enough.  
  
A Maze in the Mist.  
  
Chapter 2: I Don't Know Who I Am  
  
Hermione looked at him in great shock. If she expected any answer at all, it wasn't a calm, collected, no. This was not a normal day at all.  
  
"Excuse me?" She asked unsure if she had heard him right. They had to work together. They had no choice because only hell would make her give up her title as Head Girl. She even assumed they could be something close to friends.  
  
"Come on, Mudblood. You know quite well I wouldn't have to associate with you if we weren't given this title." Malfoy sneered at her. Malfoy knew quite well himself that his father would turn in his grave if he associated with filth like her.  
  
"Do not call me a Mudblood, Malfoy." The little badger had obviously gotten her bit back because reducing those teeth in third year did nothing.  
  
"Mudblood means dirty blood. Those people with dirty blood are half-breeds and Muggles who carry around wands, pretending they can do real magic. You know you could never manage to be as good as a pureblood." Draco sneered as he grasped a wrist coming towards his face. His intense training as the new Slytherin captain since last year had paid off. His reflexes quick as ever intercepted the hand coming his way.  
  
"Let go of me, Ferret." Granger tried to say with some venom in her voice. She couldn't pull it off well if her bloody worthless life depended on it.  
  
"Never ceases to amaze me how you can engage in a nice conversation and a battle of the wits, yet you seem to use such petty insults." It was after all true with the ferrets and the albino mouse. Honestly, she should have a little more free time to be able to come up with some better insults.  
  
"I don't spend my time trying to tease and taunt people, Malfoy. I have friends that I like to spend time with."  
  
"You mean like at the train?" Draco bit back rather harshly, even for himself.  
  
"I wouldn't expect you to understand that if I explained it. You would need something called emotion. E-M-O-T-I-O-N." Hermione snapped at him.  
  
"I know plenty about emotions, thanks. You're wasting my free time Mudblood. Go visit your 'friends' and leave me in peace." Draco sighed as Hermione walked out of sight. 'Long day ahead, Draco. No, don't put that song on. Is that country? Alright, how about, Die Die? I've always enjoyed a bloody song every now and then.'   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Walking down the hall the next day, Draco almost jumped into a corner. It was Blaise talking to Hermione. 'So he's going to ask her to go to the lake with him or something close to that?' Draco thought to himself.  
  
"No." He heard firmly as footsteps came towards him. Draco could all but help but snicker as he brushed past Hermione over to Blaise.  
  
"So, mate, didn't work out nicely?" Draco smirked to Blaise who looked absolutely frightening to most people right about now.  
  
"Draco, mate," He repeated what Draco said, "I'll get her to bed yet." Blaise seemed awfully sure of himself. Draco had known Granger long enough to know that Blaise being so full of himself right then wouldn't attract her.  
  
"Care to make a wager on that?" Draco asked thinking of all possible plans of getting Blaise to be less appealing. The wager was going to be a set time limit on when Hermione had to be bedded without force with free will.  
  
"Are you sure your father would approve of you sleeping with a Mudblood?" Blaise mocked Draco's previous words. Since when had the wager included him?  
  
"The wager won't include me. I wouldn't lay hands on a Mudblood nor would she have me after all that I have done. Don't be a muffin, Zabini." Draco told his friend honestly. Their friendship was as complicated as things got.  
  
They would talk to each other about the feelings they had which were generally minimal. They would argue and share differences of opinion on all matters from blood issues to heritage to the way witches should be treated. They would generally be supportive of each other, or at least how supportive Slytherins could get. They would generally back off of each other's women and not bed one another's ex's. They would, one second be friends or something close to it, and the next they would argue like there was no tomorrow.  
  
"Are you afraid of a challenge Draco? I bet you that I can bed the Mudblood before you can. After we're done, we drop her. Of course, we'll tell Potter and Weasley beforehand." Blaise raised an eyebrow that questioned Draco.  
  
Nothing good could come of this, but Draco was never one to back out of a dare or a challenge, "Come with me." Draco sighed slightly as he dragged Blaise into a room that was unknown even by the Marauder's Map. Draco knew so many secrets about this castle.  
  
They came up with a sort of contract that would lay in this room on the table. It would be untouched by all spells. The contract had two strings on it. One labeled Draco and one labeled Blaise. They had to follow the rules they were about to set or the string would turn red. Once one person bedded Granger, the string would turn gold. They started on the rules:  
  
Rules of the Hunt:  
  
No excessive force, threats , rape, etc.  
  
No love potions, lust spells, etc.  
  
No casting any kind of spell on Granger.  
  
No outside help.  
  
No telling anyone of the challenge (bet), telling Granger, etc.  
  
No spells, charms, potions given to opponent, etc.  
  
No using Muggle methods such as drinking, drugs, etc.  
  
Winner will receive fifty (50) galleons.  
  
Draco D. Malfoy  
  
Blaise L. Zabini  
  
As they signed the contracts, the strings turned blue and then returned to their usual pale yellow color. The war was on.  
  
Draco woke up with a headache the following Saturday morning. As a signal that the first week was over, the majority of the seventh years snuck to Hogsmeade to drink. Surprisingly among those seventh year students was the subject of two Slytherins' bet.  
  
Draco noticed Blaise's very blunt attempts at getting Hermione to go out with him. Draco himself was biding his time. If he kept being cordial to the Mudblood then eventually when he made his move she would accept.   
  
Although the Wizarding drinks were a bit stronger then Muggle ones, they were not exempt from having a hangover, thus the hangover potion came in handy. Too bad most of the time Draco was too knocked up to find the potion. Today, however, he was having better luck, causing him to find it right away. Clarity soon followed.  
  
He walked into the main Common room to see Granger digging for something, "Merlin help me. Where is it?" She shouted as she grasped her head and moaned.  
  
"Looking for something?" Draco asked with a teasing tone. She groaned at him loudly still digging through her desk in the common room. Draco tossed her some hangover potion which she took without hesitation.  
  
"Thank you, Malfoy. Hopefully I won't be poisoned by tomorrow." With that statement she went back into her room.  
  
Draco cursed himself. He should have said something to her. Oh well, it was Saturday, and he had all day to make his move. He just sat down with a smirk on his face waiting for her to come out of her bedroom.  
  
He only had to wait about half an hour before a calmer Granger walked into the common room, "Listen Malfoy, I shouldn't have snapped at you like that. I apologize." She said through gritted teeth.  
  
He forced himself to smile and said, "No problem, Granger. We all get our hissy fits once in a while." He almost hit himself over the head for that comment, 'You're trying to win her over, git. No more insults from this moment on, but make it subtle. She can't know you're up to something.' To his surprise, she smiled.  
  
"Even you, Malfoy?" She asked him with a smile tugging on her lips. 'Play along.'  
  
"Well, of course not such a fine creature as myself." He fake posed causing a laugh to escape her lips. 'One step at a time. She's such a little stubborn wench. With Blaise trying to do what he is, he'll never win this war.'  
  
"So, what's with the attitude change Malfoy?" She asked him while he smoothly smirked.  
  
"You're right, Granger. I do have an attitude. But, did it change or am I up to something?" He smirked as he moved closer to her.  
  
Draco was very much aware of what he had said. Normally, he wouldn't admit to being 'up' to something, but Hermione Granger was no one's fool; she knew him for seven years, and if he made some excuse or said that he had quote unquote 'changed', she wouldn't buy it. She would automatically get her ugly little rats to come after him and physically pound it out of him. Draco could put up a good fight, but he wasn't the kind of person to play physical games with someone. Mentality was the first step to owning a person.  
  
"You're always up to something. Now spill. What has got you being so…pleasant?" She backed away from him slightly as he cornered her into the wall.  
  
He got close to her ear, his body almost touching hers. Heat radiated through the room as she closed her eyes. He got so close she couldn't move without bumping into him, "I see something, I reckon, I like."  
  
She got close to his ear, which was very unexpected from her. He thought that she would break down crying so when she came in for a kiss he let himself go. The girl had some looks. You might as well milk the bet.  
  
He leant in, and she moved so suddenly that he almost fell into the wall, "I'm not an object Malfoy, for one. Two: I don't like you. Three: You didn't apologize for anything you ever did. Four: You are up to something. Maybe a bet. Five: Pe-lease." She rolled her eyes at him and walked out of the common room.  
  
He let himself fall to the floor, and he shook his head, "Nice going Malfoy. Took it a bit too far. At least you know you can take it easy." If she out weaseled personal contact, Blaise wouldn't have a chance. He took a deep breath and stood up to walk to his room.  
  
  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Walking down the hall, he heard something that caught his attention. Yes, his name was called, but that happened all the time. What caught his internet was the object of his newfound challenge saying his name.  
  
"…bloke was going to kiss me. His nasty little ferret lips near me was enough to make me almost pass out." She sneered.  
  
"You have to admit though, Hermione, he is a nice looking ferret." Ginny smirked as she nudged Hermione.  
  
"Don't start with me, Gin. He's mad; I'm telling you!" She paused to let a sigh escape her lips, "He said he was up to something like some kind of bloody smooth criminal or whatever they call it in the states. Bloody fucking hell, he's such a prat!" She stomped her foot in effect while Draco smirked in the corner he was in.  
  
"Calm down. This has obviously gotten you worked up. Whatever the muffin does, just ignore it. Most likely he is up to something. In the mean time, why don't you let him kiss you. He doesn't snog with a lot of girls. Who has had the opportunity has said he is good at it. Besides you might hit it off and…" Draco couldn't hear what Weasley said next, but he had a pretty good idea because it caused Hermione to step away open mouthed and swat at her friend like a fly.  
  
"I never! Virginia Annabelle Weasley! Wait until your mum hears of this." Hermione shouted while Ginny took her cue to mumble an apology.  
  
"Seriously though, Hermione. What if he has changed. With his mother at St. Mungo's and his father in Azkaban, he has good reason to. Maybe if this isn't one of his tricks, you could get together. I bet you would get along famously!" Ginny shrugged as Hermione sighed.  
  
"Gin, maybe you're right. It'll take time though. We do have some things in common when he doesn't call me nasty names."  
  
"That's my girl. My baby's all grown up." Ginny fake cried.  
  
"You would make am excellent actress."  
  
"Actress?" Ginny wondered. Draco kept on moving as Granger explained what an actress was to Weasley.  
  
"Time I don't have. I want her in bed. Come on, Draco, quick thinking." Draco sighed as he went outside to think.  
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
So, almost a month passed, and besides himself and Blaise bunches of guys asked her out. She gave everyone a chance, except Blaise who would say something sexist. She hadn't stayed with anyone longer than one date but one, however. She hardly had any time for guys considering she was Hermione Granger and had to study.  
  
He was starting to think that Blaise was right: Granger had grown up quite nicely. It hadn't happened over the summer but gradually, and she couldn't compare with Parvati Patil, but it was her innocence and intelligence that attracted so many males.  
  
Draco was in deep thought as he walked inside the common room to see Hermione giggling over a letter, "What're you reading, Hermione?" Draco asked curiously.  
  
It was easier than he thought to call her Hermione. She of course, responded by calling him by his given name also. A month of him being polite had caused them to be somewhat close friends. He could tell that it would never be best friends or something of that sort because he had never apologized. He had to be careful at this stage. With an apology from the 'ferret Malfoy' could come speculations of him being up to something.  
  
Then, of course, there was the fact that Slytherins didn't mind half as much as Gryffindors that Hermione and Draco were pleasant to one another in public. Potter and Weasley always seemed to be around Hermione when Draco was there. They really were like lions, but not because they were brave, but because they always looked out for one another.  
  
Slytherins, on the other hand, had one leader. It was like a monarchy, and with the name Malfoy came that power. Slytherins were cunning and fearless; the only exception to that was the leader. Malfoy had them shut up with one word and glare to go with it. Not one person would tell his father of anything. The only person who wasn't as fearful was probably Blaise who knew of that bet.  
  
"A letter from Terry." She seemed to say his name very dreamily.  
  
"Terry Boot? You have got to be kidding be Hermione. You can do better than him!" Draco said but seemed to be thinking, 'This cannot be happening. I am so close, and Blaise seems to be making some progress too!!!'   
  
"Like who? That bloke from Slytherin who keeps asking me out. What is his name. Blaise Zabini?" She seemed to be very mad at Draco for belittling Terry. 'Well, it seems as though Blaise hasn't made as much progress as I have.'   
  
"He's very slick Hermione. He'll hurt you; I can promise that." Draco muttered as she sent him a glare.  
  
"I happen to like him, and besides, he's smart. Third in our year with marks you know. I'm first tied with someone."  
  
"Me." He mumbled with a frown on his lips.  
  
"Come on Malfoy. Who are you kidding? I remember in fifth year how you barely passed!" She said angrily.  
  
"Accio O.W.Ls!" He screamed now thoroughly angry with her. Within seconds they came flying into his hands. He marched to her and pushed it into her face, "How the hell do you think I got into all N.E.W.T classes?!?"  
  
She looked down at them and looked up at Draco, "I'm sorry, Draco. I just need you to understand that I like Terry."  
  
He sighed as a pang of an unknown emotion hit him, "I do understand." Jealousy.  
  
A/N: I hope you liked this chapter. I'm not posting until I get at last five reviews because I know that some people don't like to read stories until they have 10000 words myself included. When I hit 10000 words I'm going to request more reviews because I like to feel appreciated. My 50th reviewer gets to put any object of their desire in my story and I'll use it well. 


	3. Is It Me or Is It You?

A/N: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! After I hit 10000 words I'm expecting at least 10 reviews per chapter. I'm not posting until I have 15 reviews in total. Five per chapter or 15 in general. Whatever. Anyway... School is tough. I love forensics. Anyway...  
  
Still dedicated to: Jesse Ringness  
  
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any related characters. Copyright infringement is not pleasant and not intended. I do not own any bands I may use, however, I do own original characters and/or personalities I make for lesser known characters such as JKR's Blaise Zabini. I'm only saying this once: I do not own Harry Potter  
  
A Maze in the Mist  
  
Chapter 3: Is it me or is it you?  
  
Draco sat down in the Great Hall for dinner that Friday night after his talk with Granger. He shook away any feelings he may have convinced himself he had. He was a Malfoy, and Malfoys didn't care about anyone but themselves and a few friends.  
  
"How are you progressing with Granger now that she has a bloody boyfriend?" Draco asked as he sat next to Blaise. Blaise's eyes showed a momentary lapse of frustration, but soon he recovered.  
  
"She has a fucking boyfriend? Give me his name, and I'll get rid of him." Blaise said menacingly as he looked down at his meat in disgust.  
  
"Can't do that. We have rules. No excessive force or threats. We'll have to get him out of the picture. She could hardly remember your name." Draco let a hearty laugh escape his throat. He laughed a lot more often now. He supposed it was thanks to the Golden Girl.  
  
"Shut up. The Mudblood isn't so easy to get as I thought. If I took any other Gryffindor they would have been broken by now." Blaise sneered glaring at the Gryffindor table.  
  
"You think I don't know that? Of course I do. Let's make the bet a little more interesting. If someone beds her before Christmas, still abiding by the rules, the person gets 100 Galleons." Draco smirked thinking he had this in the bag. He ignored the voice in the back of his head that said that wasn't right.  
  
"Deal." Blaise murmured as they shook on it. Both friends had smirks plastered on their faces as Hermione Granger subconsciously shifted in her seat next to Terry Boot at the Ravenclaw table.  
  
"It would have been a lot less challenging if it was someone from Hufflepuff that she fancied."  
  
"Don't say you're backing out of the bet now, my friend." Blaise smirked even wider as he placed a hand on Draco's shoulder.  
  
"Never." Draco eyed Granger one last time as he stood up to walk to their common room.  
  
  
  
*  
  
"…Promise that forever we will never get better at growin' up and learning to lie. I'm on my way back home now. Good lives are gold like the oldest story. Will mine be told while I'm still young and horny?--"  
  
"I don't know Draco. How horny are you?" Hermione asked causing a smile to escape Draco's lips.  
  
"How horny do you want me to be?" Draco asked as he playfully got a centimeter from her lips.  
  
"Very, very horny." Hermione whispered as she leaned into his lips. 'Wait! No! Alert! Alert! If you kiss her she'll say it's a mistake. If you back away then she'll think you have character or whatever the hell Gryffindors want.'   
  
"I can't. It would be wrong." 'And you know a lot about wrong. Stupid git! You tried to kill her off too many times to say that. Oh shut up. This is the bet.'  
  
"I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have done that-" 'Knight in shining armor, Malfoy. Tell her it was your fault.'  
  
"No, it was my fault. I shouldn't have done that. You have a boyfriend." Draco had to hold himself back from smirking. Since when was he the noble kind? He supposed that it all started a month and half ago with the bet.  
  
"Yeah." She smiled, and without warning she jumped into his arms, making him fall into the sofa.  
  
"You're the coolest, Drake." 'Drake. I quite like that.' He quickly snapped out of that. He wouldn't allow himself to feel anything for her, 'She's a muggleborn. Mudblood. She's a dirty disgusting Mudblood.'  
  
"Listen, Hermione," Right now was the perfect moment to apologize. She wouldn't suspect he was up to something, "I need to apologize for things that happened over the years. I was just being childish. I realized that my father doesn't control me, and since he died this summer I've gained perspective. I loved him, and I know he loved me." He lied so smoothly its surprised himself. So maybe this confession was the truth? No. He wouldn't allow it to be. "I started out this year being cordial to you because I had to be, but now I'm glad I've become head boy because of the opportunity to be close to you. You're an amazing person, Hermione. I'm glad you gave me a chance."  
  
Tears were slipping from her eyes while she hugged him tightly. She leaned in for a kiss, and besides the bet, he wanted to kiss her. He wouldn't be likely to admit it. He just settled for leaning in and kissing her. Her lips felt so soft to him, and even though they weren't perfectly united like some sappy love story, it did feel right to him.  
  
"I can't." She jumped up and ran for her room.   
  
"Stupid Mudblood." Draco said as he brushed off her lip gloss and shook his hair to mess it up slightly.  
  
Frustrated with himself, he walked through a door to the Slytherin Common Room. He looked around and frowned. His friend was nowhere to be seen. He jogged to the seventh years boy dormitory and stepped into the door.  
  
"Blaise." Draco spoke suddenly while Blaise just kept staring outside. If Draco didn't know any better he would say Blaise was a vampire. Every sunset he would be found by a window looking outside, and then he would stare at the stars. Draco appreciated this every once in a while, but Blaise had a nightly ritual he didn't like to miss.  
  
"You kissed her and came here to gloat." Blaise spoke without turning around. Before Draco could say anything Blaise swung around and looked into his eyes, "She wouldn't put out. Come now, Draco, you knew it wouldn't be that easy."  
  
"Blaise, mate, as long as I know I'm one step ahead of you, I'm just fine." Draco smirked at his friend who smirked right back.  
  
"Do you have a trip scheduled to the lake with her tomorrow night?" Blaise asked with a wide smirk.  
  
"What did you do to Boot, and when did you do it because Granger sure as hell wasn't crying when I talked to her before dinner." Draco smirked at his friend who laughed slightly.  
  
"No potions for Granger, but it didn't say you couldn't use potions at all. I happened to remember Terry Boot having a small fancying period about Parvati Patil. All it took was a love potion for her and the opportunity presented for him. A sappy love note from me to her telling her to meet 'me' in a spare classroom. Too bad she was too into the note to see it wasn't her beloved boyfriend's handwriting. She went into the classroom to see them shagging." Blaise snickered looking to Draco.  
  
Draco plastered a smirk on his face while his heart panged with sympathy for Hermione, "And you were there for her moment of need. You comforted her, and she agreed to go on a date with you. This levels the playing field." Draco felt himself growing angry even though he had no right to be. This was all a bet about a Mudblood.  
  
"A date tomorrow. One to follow that. We can talk about 'feelings' and all the crap Gryffindors talk about. By Christmas she'll be in my bed, and the hundred Galleons will be mine." Blaise smirked as he stepped away from the window. He walked out leaving Draco to his thoughts.  
  
He had to act fast or he was going to lose the gir--bet. Malfoys didn't lose bets, especially not The Draco Malfoy. Then again, Zabinis didn't lose bets either, and pitting them against one another was virtually unheard of. Losing was unacceptable to both. It would not happen yet it had to. Maybe he should cancel the bet now before Draco's only real friend was lost to him. 'Never.'  
  
Before he knew it, he was back to his common room. Hermione was sitting reading a book. She was strong, this one. She went out with someone she really 'liked' and after two days he was cheating on her. Five minutes later she was going out with someone again. That was strange behavior for her. What did Blaise do?  
  
"I heard you're going out with Blaise Zabini. What ever happened to Terry Boot?" Draco asked putting the smirk that was coming onto his face back inside him.  
  
"Draco. We've only been going out a week or so and he is already cheating on me. Am I not a good person? And now I have to go to the lake with Blaise Zabini just because he was nice. I really don't want to do anything. He said he wants to be my friend, but I don't know!" She broke down crying, and Draco sighed loudly.  
  
'Is a hundred Galleons really worth her whining?' Draco thought to himself as he sat down to put an arm around her, 'Gods.' He leant onto her and gave her a kiss on the cheek.  
  
He then gave her another kiss that was a little closer to her lips. 'Vulnerability isn't against the rules.' He smirked besides himself as something unexpected happened. She took her arms and swung them around his neck enveloping him in a deep kiss.  
  
With her on top, Draco had a nice view of the Mudblood's cleavage. They should've made robes illegal for women, in Draco's opinion. He really couldn't tell that she had some nice breasts before this moment.  
  
She moaned into his lips which gave him the perfect opportunity to put his tongue into her mouth. His tongue caressed her teeth as she lightly sucked on his tongue. He pressed himself firmly into her while she moaned.  
  
He was surprised with himself to have such a reaction to her. He felt an erection coming on which pressed into her. He felt her eyelashes flutter open in surprise. He took his tongue out of her mouth and moved his mouth to place light kisses along her jaw. She moaned loudly as he got down to her neck and found an especially sensitive spot.  
  
His erection, meanwhile, grew and firmly pressed into her thigh. He started to open up her blouse when she pushed him away with a simple, "I want to, but I'm not ready to yet."  
  
"It's fine. You're vulnerable; it wouldn't be right." 'Prude bitch.' He thought sourly to himself while he backed away trying to look somewhat fidgety. Like he hadn't been in this situation so many different times before. Of course, he wasn't available for anyone for a one night stand. He respected witches. Pureblood witches anyway.  
  
He, unlike many other wizards, thought that it was ridiculous how males in the Muggle world and Wizarding world alike could juggle so many women and sleep with so many of them without any attachment whatsoever. They were just called quote unquote 'players', and when women did the same thing she would be called a whore or something of that magnitude. He, personally, thought it was wrong. He had some morals.  
  
"Thanks for understanding Draco. You're the best." 'Check please.'  
  
"It's fine," He repeated with a smile on his face. "Are you still going to the lake with Blaise? Maybe he just wants to be friends." Hey, just because Draco had the win right now wouldn't mean that he didn't want a challenge.  
  
"I suppose I could. First, I would like to know what this means. I'm not sure I can trust anyone completely, let alone you." 'Whiney bitch. Stupid rule about alcohol. I wouldn't mind if she stopped whining.'   
  
"I'll have to work for your trust. I don't know what we are. We have a lot of history, and I wouldn't want you to get in a row with your friends." Ironically, that was exactly what he and Blaise were trying to do. How would her friends react when they saw them kiss. Would they abandon her? He truly doubted that. If Slytherins wouldn't abandon him if he fell for her- technically speaking of course- then Gryffindors certainly would get over it. While they got over it, Draco would cause hell for her. He would break up the dream team. He had to stop himself from smirking at the thought.  
  
"You're always thinking of me." She said so sweetly that it hit Draco with just how trusting she was. He could piss on her now, and she would forgive him. This was just too easy! Too easy… Much, much too easy… Did she know.  
  
'Being a tad too paranoid Draco old buddy.' She had to know, though. He put her through torture year after year for six years, and suddenly she just kisses him? That just made no sense whatsoever. She just had to know something.  
  
He mumbled some kind of stupid reply and bid her goodbye while he walked through a door to the Slytherin common room. He rushed to Blaise who was sitting next to a sixth year chatting.  
  
"Thomas." Draco nodded to the younger pupil and smirked.  
  
"Draco." The brown-eyed, dark haired boy nodded to Draco and smirked himself.  
  
"I need to speak with Blaise. If you'd excuse us." Draco said curtly, all the while grabbing Blaise's shoulder and using pure muscle to pull him up. Blaise shot him a curious look.  
  
"Excuse us." Blaise said while walking out the portrait hole with Blaise, "What the hell is your problem, Draco?" Blaise inquired while Draco made sure his face was blank as he led Blaise through halls to go outside. In the darkness of the night, no one could see them.  
  
"I think she knows." He said hurriedly.  
  
"You dragged me out here in winter, in the fucking snow to tell me of suspicions. I don't have time for your nonsense today, mate." Blaise simple replied while grasping his cloak and putting it on. "What proof do you have?"  
  
"I need none. Think about it. I've put her through hell 24 fucking hours a day for six fucking years! Now all of a sudden we almost have fucking sex? What the fuck do you suppose happened? She suddenly just fucking decided she'd fucking forgive me? And fucking you? She didn't even know your name, and she gets over that fucking pansy Terry fucking Boot in one day just because you fucking comfort her? Fuck! What the fuck is that?--"  
  
"Breathe in. Breathe out." Blaise smiled causing Draco to calm down and start laughing. "You fucking are fucking blowing fucking this fucking out fucking of fucking propfuckingorfuckingtion." He smiled even wider.  
  
"I get it! I used fuck a little too many times. Brutal, aren't you Zabini?" Draco asked getting an evil glint in his eyes.  
  
"You know it." Blaise answered all while getting an evil glint in his eye himself.  
  
Suddenly, Draco pushed Blaise into the ice cold, almost frozen, water. Blaise, anticipating this move, grasped onto Draco's shoulders and went into the water with him.  
  
"I was almost surprised, Blaise." Draco said while getting out of the water, "Too bad I had already cast a heating charm and a protective charm."  
  
Blaise, having had the same idea came out completely dry himself, "I could say the same, Draco."  
  
"Finite incatatem." Draco spoke quickly while pushing Blaise into the water. He almost screamed while landing in the ice cold water. So, they had an excuse for being out there. Draco was head boy, and had no curfew, and Blaise was a prefect so he was safe also. Too bad them getting caught being so childish would still get them a good lecture, especially so close to regular curfew.  
  
"Dead ferret brains, Malfoy. Three. Two. One!" Blaise ran after Draco, still dripping wet. The couple of people who were around were surprised to see Draco, who was usually strict and calm AND collected, so carefree and happy.  
  
People around them were laughing like crazy, and when Draco fell on his arse, they erupted in laughter. Draco, however, didn't care. Blaise was right there with his wand out.  
  
"Prepare to die!" And with that, Blaise tackled Draco. After a few minutes, they calmed down and just sat on the floor laughing their heads off.  
  
"That's the best time I've had in quite a while." People who lingered around were given detentions for being out past curfew.  
  
A/N: I loved writing this chapter. 


	4. The Hinges of Fate

A/N: I was on vacation, but I'm back now. So sorry for the long wait, and the beginning of this chapter was rushed... So forgive me! The end is well worth waiting for! Thanks for my reviewers.  
  
I saw the HArry Potter movie. It stunk. I felt it was really rushed. Sigh...  
  
IF YOU WANT TO GET TO THE PART THAT'S REALLY IMPORTANT AND SKIP ALL THE MALFOY HISTORY JUST LOOK AT WHERE THE IS!!!  
  
Disclaimer: Harry Potter? Me own? Yes I DO! As soon as I'm Jo K Rowling! (Which I'm not so I don't own it)  
  
Chapter 4: The Hinges of Fate  
  
Of course he had anticipated to spy on them. It was the most probable solution until he realized that if either caught him, mainly Hermione, he would most likely suffer a terrible, prolonged, death.  
  
He knew nothing would happen between either because Hermione had confessed to Draco that she didn't like Blaise, but he also knew that Blaise was a Slytherin. He was a cunning person just as any other Slytherin, but what scared Draco was that Blaise was like a brother to him, like an identical twin with the same things implanted into his brain. What scared him even more was that Gryffindors like the touchy feely crap, and Blaise was more 'in touch' with those kinds of things even if he could get physical to get what he wanted. Yes, Draco was worried.  
  
In the end, he decided to wait out the night in the common room waiting for Hermione's return so he could find out just how much damage Blaise had done.  
  
Hermione left at seven sharp, and now it was a quarter until eleven. That was normal length. Hermione was too reasonable to stay out later than midnight tops. He decided to get out a good book and read.  
  
He was caught up in the book so he never noticed the clock ring eleven, then midnight, then one. Finally he caught himself yawning as he put the book down almost forgetting the point to his being there. He went to bed, looking one last time at the clock on the wall.

* * *

Christmas break started sooner than either of the men would have liked. The hundred galleon bet was over, fore they both knew that Hermione was having a hard time choosing. Of course they could tell that there was some kind of a battle going on inside her. She wouldn't admit to it. Blaise asked Hermione on direct dates and was a gentlemen on them. Now normally Blaise would have been physical, but it was against the rules, Draco made sure. Draco, meanwhile, used the tactic of being her 'friend' with heavy flirting.  
  
So, for the month before break she spent less time with Potter and Weasley, as they were angry at her for dating a 'useless, dirty, conniving' Slytherin, and more time with Blaise and Draco.  
  
She seemed happier with the idea of dating Blaise than she had that one night a couple of weeks ago. She only went on seldom dates with him, Draco noticed. They would hang out just as Draco would with Hermione. They weren't an official couple. How could they be, anyway, with Hermione and Draco himself flirting so much?  
  
He didn't like one bit that this bet wasn't over. He noticed himself becoming more attached to the little Mudblood, and it bothered him. Of course it bothered him! She was-is worthless! A pureblooded wizard has standards he has to uphold. Not that he had any feelings for Granger beside hatred and the bet.  
  
He let out an angry growl while he settled in his bed. He didn't want to get up today, and he didn't have to. Last night was yet another seventh year Hogsmeade drink fest in honor of there not being school for three weeks.  
  
He had already taken a hangover potion that could be taken right before the drinking so it could get you drunk, but it couldn't get you a hangover. 'Best creation yet.' Draco thought to himself as he put a hand on his bedside table drawing his wand to him.  
  
"Accio Bass Clef Around with the Muggle Musicians." He simply commanded as the book came flying toward him. Naturally he was interested in music. He had been taking piano classes all his life as his father said in his aristocratic way, "The type of music one plays shows the influence they will place on the world." So, by the age of six Draco already knew many pieces by heart.  
  
The summer before first year, which was the most carefree one he had as his father only made him read all of his books repeatedly, he had taken up the trombone. What he loved most of all was that it was able to express emotions so well. Being able to just play around with the slide and write down the music was probably his favorite part. Then, he loved the fact that it could just go incredibly low if it needed be or incredibly high, which is the reason he usually read out of baritone/euphonium books because of range issues.  
  
Wizards were mostly not in tune with such instruments so he did, contrary to popular belief, read many Muggle books and go to many Muggle concerts. His father, surprisingly, had no problem with this. Even if his father was quite ignorant he had told his only son that "the informed person will best rule the world if they know how to conquer".  
  
'I think my father had some control issues.' Draco mused sarcastically as he began to read the book about famous jazz bands.  
  
With a few chapters of the familiar book read, Draco stood up and walked into the bathroom. He heard a little screech as Granger galloped to get a towel. She had a nice body that one. She wasn't beautiful in the slut kind of way like Lavender Brown, but she was beautiful in the innocent type of way. He only got a small view of her stomach, but he could tell she had a nice body.  
  
"Sorry about that, Hermione." He held back the smirk that was threatening to come to his lips.  
  
"It's ok." She squeaked whilst she ran out of the bathroom. Draco let the smirk escape his lips as he stepped out of the boxers he had on before Hermione even closed the door.  
  
With a smirk still fresh on his face, he stepped into the shower.  
  
He wasn't always like this. There was once a time when Draco did care about people besides his close friends. He didn't know when the hinges of fate decided to make his parents cruel because he did remember his mother singing to him as a child and his father taking him on broom rides. Maybe it all started with his father joining the Deatheaters.  
  
Draco didn't care for Voldemort as much as he did when he was younger and more naïve. At just fifteen his father wanted him to join his ranks, but when his father was sent to Azkaban, Draco started thinking about it more. Tom Marvolo Riddle was a halfbreed himself. It reminded him a little of Muggle Hitler who wanted to kill Jews when he was part Jewish himself.  
  
Draco was made to believe, by his father, that Voldemort could be victorious over everyone, but then why did Potter continuously escape him and his 'wrath'?   
  
Draco then decided to be neutral until it came closer to the final battle. He would then, wait until the final showdown to examine which side was probable to win and fight with them. Draco was on the winning side, and that was it.

* * *

They were to have a Christmas ball for all the seventh years, and who was to plan it? The head boy and girl of course. So, Draco found the perfect opportunity so spend time with the object of his life lately. The bet as they referred to her now as if she was an object. That was what Draco was now doing: sitting in the common room, starting to plan the Christmas ball.  
  
"So how should we do this? We could have a theme…" He shot her a look, "besides Christmas." She quickly added.  
  
"We should have it masked." He suggested as Hermione beamed at the idea.  
  
"We should have everyone be secretive until midnight." She added one.  
  
"We should have it during New Years so everyone could kiss someone at midnight." He suggested. That would be one step closer for him. The bet so far was going nowhere. She was just confused and cranky because she wasn't sure what either wanted.  
  
Blaise had gone with her to a few outings including a Hogsmeade trip or two while Draco just lightly flirted with her and snogged her a few times just to have her run into her room and later apologize.  
  
He would be the first person to know about the ball and when and how it was held once they got their ideas approved by Dumbledore. He would ask her first. Then, he would kiss her. Then, he would go into the common room and shag her. Then, he could dump and humiliate her in front of the whole great hall when he said how lousy she shagged. Then, probably boast about how he had taken the Mudblood's virginity. Then, he could get back his life and start to date that new Ravenclaw girl. Was that what he really wanted? Maybe… 'Of course I want it.' He thought to himself as he paid attention to what she was saying.  
  
"I don't know if Dumbledore would allow that." She said uncertainly, feeling a little squeamish so close to him when he suggested kissing.  
  
"Oh come off it, Hermione, we're seventeen years old. He couldn't prevent 'young love from blossoming' if he tried. We could have Sum 41 to perform."  
  
"Sum 41? You want to bet that half of the school doesn't know who Sum 41 is? They--"  
  
"would be cheap to get because of exactly that reason. Not as cheap as some unknown band, but as cheap as the Weird Sisters." He finished for her as she looked doubtful of the idea.  
  
"We might want to have a backup plan in case that doesn't work. How about we have two or three choices and have the students pick that way they aren't unhappy, and if they choose the band that can't do it, we just lie." She said with a shrug.  
  
He got out his self writing quill and a piece of parchment. He heard her grumble loudly as it started writing down thoughts, "Something wrong?"  
  
"No. It just reminds of me Rita Skeeter. Wretched woman." She said more to herself than him as she quickly shrugged it off, "Sum 41. Umm… How about Linkin Park?"  
  
"They are going to want slow songs, Hermione."  
  
"And Sum 41 has slow songs?"  
  
"Point taken. Linkin Park. Eve 6 has slow songs."  
  
"And people know Eve 6?"  
  
"People know Sum 41?"  
  
"Point taken." She mumbled. Eve 6 was a good choice for it.  
  
"Eminem."  
  
"He's a Muggle artist." Hermione said as he thought about it.  
  
"He is, and all it would take would be a charm and then a memory charm, and Eminem is a popular choice."  
  
"In that case: 50cent, Nelly, and P Diddy."  
  
"Let us begin to narrow it down then." Draco said as he commanded him quill to begin crossing out things they said.  
  
"No Linkin Park."  
  
"Aww heck, let's just have Blink 182 with I dunno, Eminem."

* * *

Draco sighed as they finished all the planning a week later. He still hadn't asked her to the ball and people would be finding out about it that night. That night was two days before Christmas. He would have to do it and do it fast. Chances are though that if he didn't think of the right setting and way to ask her, she would refuse to.  
  
He could take her on an outing to Hogsmeade. The only problem with that would be what was the excuse he would use with Dumbledore. He sighed loudly as he took out a whistle to call his owl. He had gotten a new catalog. He could fast order her a present, but then she would think it was bribery.  
  
He could write her a poem or some gibberish like that. Yes, Gryffindors liked gibberish.  
  
Draco summoned his quill with a loud sigh as his owl came and sat on his arm, "Sorry midnight. I don't have… Wait." He scribbled a note to Blaise telling him he had his next move and asked what Blaise's would be. He sent his owl off as he set about trying to write some kind of poetry.  
  
Gryffindors liked feelings and that crap. What would Hermione-- the Mudblood like to hear? That someone cared about her. She was worthless, wasn't she? He shook thoughts of that out of his head as he thought of old novels his mother made him read with tales of romance.  
  
Poetry?  
  
Draco stood up and made his way quickly to Snape's office. He made his way inside without knocking. Snape wasn't there. Good. He wouldn't have to deal with his reasoning. He took some of the floo powder off of the mantel and threw it in the fire. He looked at the door creaking open.  
  
He stopped in his tracks to look behind him. No one. Draco took out his wand and did a quick revealing spell. The dungeons were drafty. He didn't have time to dwell on it. He stepped into the fire and with a firm clear voice spoke his destination.  
  
He took his wand back out and did a quick cleaning spell on the dusty marble floors. With a few long strides he found his way to the staircase. He jogged up it and went for about five minutes before hitting the door he was looking for. He pushed it open before walking inside the library.  
  
It wasn't the Hogwarts library but it was definitely close. It was quite big for a personal library. Malfoy skimmed the titles before finding one that looked familiar. He grabbed the book and went back to his fireplace. He threw in some floo powder.  
  
He wouldn't have to use Snape's fireplace to arrive back at Hogwarts as his father had put a special charm on that fireplace before he got arrested.  
  
"Heads' dormitory." Draco said clearly as he stepped inside.  
  
Good. She wasn't there so she couldn't lecture him. He flipped through the pages idly still standing by the fireplace. He found a random poem with the words love, lust, and affection in it. He didn't bother to read through it. As long as it had some of the emotion crap in there and Granger didn't know about it, he would be good off.  
  
He walked to his room and slipped inside. Walking to the desk, he grabbed a piece of parchment and a quill. He sat down and opened the bottle of ink. He dipped his quill in the ink and started to copy down the poem onto the piece of parchment. As soon as he was done he scribbled an invitation to New Years Ball along with his signature.  
  
He took out a sealer and walked outside of the common room to his fireplace. He spread wax over the sealer until it warmed up enough and turned into liquid. He was careful not to spill any of the red wax as he walked over to embroidered envelope he had put the letter in and pressed the seal firmly onto the envelope. He stared as the Malfoy family crest hardened.  
  
Draco sighed as he whistled for his owl to fly over. The finest, most well trained owl in all of England, his father had said when he presented his son with the pure black owl who simply seemed too good to hoot.  
  
The owl nodded as it read the name on the envelope. Draco left the owl on his arm as he attached a pure red rose to its leg. "Deliver it in precisely ten minutes." He ordered as the owl flew outside the opened balcony.  
  
Draco walked down to the great hall as he reminisced about a recent conversation he had had with the Mudblood…  
  
_"So the plans are all down for the ball. It's lucky so many people decided to stay even before they knew about the ball." He said not even thinking about why they would be there.  
  
"I'm surprised at you, Malfoy. With Voldemort out on the loose-" She stopped when he flinched at the name, "Afraid of a name are you, Malfoy? A seventeen year old Deatheater."  
  
"Do not talk about things you do not know about, Mudblood!" Draco raged as he got a look of pure steal in his eyes. "I was being respectful to a Mudblood! That's more than a piece of filth like you deserved! What do I get in return? ACCUSATIONS OF BEING IN RANKS WITH PEOPLE WHO GOT MY FATHER INTO AZKABAN?!?" Filthy little Mudblood, he added to himself as he glared at her.  
  
"Oh, so you didn't threaten me just two years ago? You haven't made my life hell for the past seven years? Suddenly you stop because of Merlin knows what reason? I'm glad I haven't been telling you anything about Harry because for all I know you could be spying for Voldemort!" That stabbed him right in the heart and he backed away from that impact.  
  
It was true. If he put himself into someone else's shoes he would suspect the same thing. He whined to his father about everything from failing a potions exam in his first year to the Hippogriff attack in his third year. Did he ever have a decent conversation with his father outside of complaints or gossip? He shook his head. Of course he had. Several times. That wasn't the problem. Who did he hang out with? Deatheaters and their children. He was in the ranks with Deatheaters. He had KILLED someone. He hadn't had the dark mark, but he might as well have. He tortured Muggles, he used the unforgivables, he killed someone, he killed more than one person. HE WAS A MURDERER!  
  
"I-I- Ugh-" He stumbled through. He didn't know what to say. For the first time, Draco Malfoy was speechless.  
  
"How about you stutter some more Malfoy?" She asked harshly as she crossed her arms.  
  
For the first time, he looked at himself. He was what she had thought of him. He was a foul, foul man. He buried all thoughts of himself in the back of his mind. He was what his father taught him to be. He shouldn't have to live with Mudbloods, and even though Voldemort was not someone he was going to worship (he was a hypocrite), he would do as he was taught by his father._  
  
That was weeks ago; Hermione and Draco had vowed to forget the incident and go on with their friendship without a word about what happened to anyone.  
  
He reached the great hall and opened the doors to see the girls of the Gryffindor table swarming around his letter.  
  
Draco walked solemnly to the Slytherin table and took a seat next to Blaise and across from Crabbe and Goyle.  
  
"Am I safe to assume that is your Persian owl, Midnight?" Blaise asked as he smirked at Draco. He had something up his sleeve and Draco more than noticed, "Very good Draco, nice to know your mind isn't down the gutter. Completely anyway." Blaise muttered as if reading Draco's mind.  
  
"If I knew that you didn't know Occlumency, I would swear to it." Draco sighed as he felt a pair of hot gazes thrown his way. Potter and Weasley.  
  
"The males of the Golden Trio seem to be staring this way. Any reason Draco?" Blaise asked sarcastically as Draco growled. He pushed his food out of the way. He wasn't hungry anymore.  
  
"What brings you this way, gentlemen, to our humble Slytherin table?" Draco asked with a smirk as he twisted around to see Harry and Ron standing right behind them.  
  
"Stay away from her, Malfoy." Ron threatened simply.  
  
"From who? Draco and I would love some clarification on that." Blaise said as he moved around to face Harry and Ron.  
  
"Stay out of this, Zabini."  
  
"Malfoy we do not want you sending invites or gibberish poems to Hermione. Aside from your combinations duties of Head Boy and Girl we want you to stay away from her." Harry said, for the first time this year, losing his cool.  
  
"We know you're up to something, and we will find out."  
  
"Smart ones aren't you?" Malfoy said sarcastically as he fingered his wand under his robes.  
  
"Of course they are, my friend. They can walk and talk!" Blaise added as they all fingered their wands.  
  
"You want to prove something? A dual perhaps?" Harry suggested as some students starting eying them outside the corner of their eyes.  
  
"Outside. The professors are watching." Ron murmured under his breath as the four of them saw McGonagall and several other professors watching the exchange with strict un-approving eyes.  
  
"Alright then." Blaise said as he grabbed his cloak from beside him and stood up to walk out of the hall. Draco followed suit quickly as Potter and Weasley walked to the Gryffindor table to take their cloaks.

* * *

"How is it that every time I try to get an intellectual conversation into my busy schedule two morons seem to have to ruin it?" Draco asked as he started to circle around Harry.  
  
"How is it that every time I have a moment of peace from Voldemort a Deatheater has to ruin it?" Harry countered as he kept a close eye on Draco.  
  
"You're the one always looking for problems, Potter?"  
  
"Oh I do, do I? Expelliarmus!" Harry screeched as Draco dodged it easily.  
  
"You know Potter, with your sloppy aim I could kill you right now." Draco said as he threw a random curse at Harry who just barely got away from it.  
  
Harry looked over to see Ron and Blaise throwing curses at each other, "It wouldn't have been the first time, would it Malfoy? The mass murderer just like your father rotting away in Azkaban," Draco spun around quickly as Harry struck a sensitive spot, "You're just like him you know. Using people. I know that. Teasing people because you're scared of change. Pureblooded wizards who think they're better than everyone else are dying out, Malfoy. Whatever you're using Hermione for, back off. Because she will end up where she belongs, in my arms." Harry said surely as Draco stopped in his tracks.  
  
"Conjuctiva!" Draco said quickly as Harry's vision became blurred even with his glasses on. Harry pointed the wand and started to say a counter curse when Draco pointed his wand at Harry chest and said very clearly, with thoughts of powerful hate toward the wizard before him, "Crucio!"  
  
Harry withered in pain trying to break free from the curse. He saw Blaise back off from Ron as the two of them ran toward Draco and Harry.  
  
"Draco what is your issue? Are you mental mate? Take it off him now." Blaise requested as Draco registered what Potter had said.  
  
"No."  
  
"Harry. Harry mate?" Ron tried shaking Harry, but he kept withering in pain.  
  
Blaise backed away and rammed into Draco breaking concentration from Potter. Harry lay on the ground motionlessly as Ron scanned his mind for spells that could help reawaken his friend.  
  
"Draco do you want to get expelled because if Dumbledore hears you harmed his Golden Boy he will not only kick you out of school but make sure no one will ever want anything to do with you."  
  
"I don't care. Get off me Blaise or I will curse you along with Potter." Malfoy said as he lay on the ground perfectly still.  
  
"Say you aren't going to use Crucio or Avada Kedavra on Potter tonight." Blaise said as he looked over to see Weasley finally had the right spell and Potter was slowly awakening.  
  
"I can't. Get off me now Blaise." Draco said in a low and dangerous voice that meant he was nothing but dead serious.  
  
"Your threats mean nothing to me, Draco. I know your moves and I know your choice curses so do not even try to threaten me." Blaise said as his eyes narrowed. He got off of Draco.  
  
Helping Draco to his feet, they looked at Potter and Weasley. Potter was still slowly reviving from the curse, "Cry about this to anyone Potter, and I will make sure you have something to cry about. Be lucky Draco didn't kill you tonight." Blaise said as he kept an arm on his enraged friend.  
  
"Is that a threat, Blaise?"  
  
"Of course it isn't, Harry, Ron." Blaise said following suit as Draco had his hand grasped on his wand, "It's a warning."  
  
A/N: Review please. I'm going to start EMAIL updates so if you would like it just leave your email. I loved the ending: It's a warning. 


	5. It's Over

A/N: Guys, this is gonna be it for about a week or two. Not sure where my muse is and I'm pretty seriously sick. For all of you that have me under your author alert (I know who you are), please do review because I wouldn't have posted if it hadn't been for someone begging me to. A review... Please?  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter characters or anything you recognize except any original characters and my plot.  
  
Chapter 5: It's Over  
  
"What the hell was your problem out there using Cruciatus on Potter like that? Man, Draco! You've lost it, mate." Draco seemed drained from the dual, and it wasn't helping that he was mentally hitting himself for such a reaction to those words.  
  
"Where are we going?" He asked dumbly.  
  
"To your common room; where else?" Blaise said pompously as he kept a firm grip on Draco's shoulder leading him through the halls. Everyone they passed looked strangely at the Slytherin prince being dragged through the halls by his fellow Slytherin royalty.  
  
"You didn't have to stop me from torturing Potter." Draco said as Blaise muttered the password.  
  
"No. I didn't have to. I don't have to be your mate either, yet, I choose to. The way you were acting out there wasn't you." Blaise said as he violently shoved Draco onto a sofa.  
  
"I've killed people before. Everything Potter said out there was true. Killing him… It wouldn't be the first time." Draco muttered as if drunk.  
  
"Have you been drinking?" Blaise asked as Draco shook his head, "You have killed people before. So have I. What Potter said: It was the truth. What Granger told you a fortnight ago: It wasn't true. You don't kill for pleasure."  
  
"Yes, I do. I'm a miserable, terrible worthless pureblooded wizard." Draco murmured as he hit his head on the couch face down.  
  
"Get a grip. I've been telling you since we were maybe six that you are not your father. As soon as you realize that you are not your father, you will see what I've been telling you all along. You're not like the Deatheaters."  
  
"Yes I am." Draco pleaded as his friend shook his head once again.  
  
"Look me in the eyes and tell me you enjoyed torturing that Muggle." He paused to see Draco put his hands in his head, "Swear to me that you wanted to kill that Mudblood." Blaise requested as Draco shook his head.  
  
"I should have. Even if I didn't enjoy it that doesn't matter. I killed cold blooded. I killed a man while my father killed his brother. I killed, and I am my father like that."  
  
"Did your father do it out of free will?"  
  
"Well Voldemort might have-" Blaise waved him off, "Yes." He murmured in defeat.  
  
"Did your father choose to join Voldemort?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Do you want to get the mark?"  
  
"I will if the dark side is winn-" Blaise cut him off once again and shot him a look, "No."  
  
"Draco, you are your own person, and letting Potter get to you, that was not you."  
  
"You know what the worst of the lot was?" He asked not even giving Blaise a chance to answer, "The comment he made about Granger. That's what made me snap. It got to me. I don't know why. I mean, she's just a Mudblood. I shouldn't have any feelings for her. It's the bet that's getting to me. I'm telling you." Draco said as he finally got a sense of things.  
  
"You want to cancel it?" Blaise asked solemnly.  
  
"And let you think you've bettered me? Hell no, and I mean hell in the best possible way." Draco said as a smile lingered on his lips, "Thanks for everything. And, you're right. You were always right. I don't belong in Azkaban, and you don't either. Never another killing, never another torture, never another unforgivable."  
  
"Never another killing, never another torture, never another unforgivable." Blaise agreed as he hugged his best mate, "Be ready to pay the price of the bet, though. I will win."  
  
"We'll see. Now get out of my common room!" Draco smiled as he pointed to the door.  
  
"You're just jealous. You know how it is with the number one heartthrob of Slytherin."  
  
"Uh huh. Uh huh. Sure. Sure. Sure." Draco said as he opened the portrait hole. With a fake air of ignorance, Blaise left.

* * *

Draco walked outside of the school doors to the lake. Hermione still hadn't responded to his letter. He gave her plenty of time to find him in the common room before he decided to take a walk. All he wanted was a hurried note that said yes.  
  
By the time it hit midnight he got a bit worried. What if Potter and the Weasel had told Granger? The comment Potter made: -end up where she belongs, in my arms- What the fuck was Potter playing at? To make that comment Potter would have to think him enough of a threat to his little 'relationship' with the Muggleborn meaning that he could just as easily lie about him to make Hermione stay away from him. That would be terrible for the bet. Now, Potter actually had something against Draco, and Draco would have to find another way beside a threat from Blaise.  
  
Walking around the lake, he noticed a figure moving a few yards behind him. He didn't care at the moment. He was Head Boy. He had plenty of excuses he could use should the occasion of a Professor catching him arise.  
  
He took a seat under an oak tree. Gazing out onto the lake he saw the moon reflected on the surface of the water. A ripple went through the ice on the surface as the squid snatched an unsuspecting bird from the sky. He looked up to the moon instead of upon the reflection. Full.  
  
A malicious feeling swept over Draco as he thought of Lupin. The filthy werewolf would be experiencing much pain tonight through his transformation. Needed to die is what the halfbreed needed to do.  
  
His train of thought left him once he recognized the figure walking up to him as Granger. She saw him and shot him the worst glare, "Thanks for the rubbish you sent me. The flower, burned and laying on your bed Malfoy. Be lucky I don't go to Dumbledore. Unlike Harry and Ron, I'm not afraid of your threats." She spat out at him as she kept walking.  
  
Well, no use trying to threaten them now. Granger knew, and the bet was Blaise's unless he thought of something to do. Anything.  
  
"Hermione." He said as he walked to catch up with her. She ignore him, as expected, "Look. Potter's comments made me snap. I couldn't control myself. I vowed to myself never to do it again." Might as well tell her a bit of truth before the lies came out.  
  
"Good for you. Kindly step away from me." She said calmly as she kept walking for the door to Hogwarts.  
  
"I'm sorry I did it." He said painfully as though it hurt him to apologize.  
  
"You're… Didn't catch that." She said as though temporarily the wind was knocked out of her.  
  
"Sorry. I'm sorry. I, Draco Malfoy, who has never apologized to anyone in his life, am sorry. I know Potter's comments of claim toward you shouldn't have made me do anything, and I know Potter's comments of myself being as dirty and rotten as my father shouldn't have affected me. For the way I handled things, I am sorry."  
  
"He claimed me? Harry doesn't fancy me, and even if he did, he wouldn't claim me. To the comments about your father: I can't say Harry hasn't had plenty of proof to think that way, even if I disagree with him," A hope glistened in Draco's mind as he thought that he could win the bet yet, "at that point anyway. Using an unforgivable curse: Azkaban. Instantly. On my friend: Azkaban for me. I was at the point of killing you myself, Malfoy. Then I remembered, I'm not like you." Just as quickly his hope vanished.  
  
"I am like that. You're right. I have killed before." She stopped along with him at that comment. Over the course of the next few minutes they stood there silently Draco berated himself over and over again for admitting that fact to her.  
  
"I figured, but to hear it from you…" She trailed off as she stared up at him.   
  
"I-I-I am trying to change. I am not a Deatheater nor a trained killer. Using the unforgivables, force of habit. I'm sorry I used them on your friend."  
  
"Well, it's going to take a lot more than that buddy. Watch yourself, Draco." She said pronouncing each syllable of his name clearly and slowly, "I have the key to your future, and… I just might have to ruin your life." She sucked on her tongue for a minute before catching Draco off guard and spitting at his shoes. She took one step toward him and stepped up to make herself seem at his height. She started to get out her wand but decided against it. She shook her head in disgust and quickly went through the doors of Hogwarts.

* * *

"It's over isn't it? I won." Blaise questioned as Draco sloped down in the Slytherin Common Room.  
  
Instead of answering Draco just groaned looking outside the high windows at the bottom of the snow covered grounds. He buttoned up his cloak as the underground dungeons of the common room grew colder.  
  
"They told her, and now she isn't speaking on you."  
  
"She spit on me. I confessed all the little Gryffindor things to her," He broke up and started mumbling quickly, "and some real stuff." He stopped mumbling and spoke up, "The bitch threatened me. No one threatens me!" He yelled as some Slytherins slightly backed away from their king.  
  
"Wow. Someone threatened the great Malfoy." Blaise whimpered sarcastically, "Let's all shudder and pray." He finished as Draco shot him a dirty look. Some Slytherins were nervously laughing while others kept their mouths shut.  
  
"Want to duel, Zabini?" Draco asked as he got out his wand the same time as Blaise. With experienced reflexes they shouted their curses, "Rictosempra!" "Expelliarmus!" They both dodged the curses as the common room cleared out.  
  
"Now that we have the common room empty…" Blaise muttered as he inspected their work, "We really need to come up with new curses to use."  
  
"Agreed."  
  
"So, what can we do to repair this thing with you and Granger. I want some competition."  
  
"I need no help. The New Years Ball: She'll be eating out of my hands. Whoever she's going with, he'll never know what happened." Draco snarled as he balled his fist.  
  
"Don't be so sure, mate." Blaise muttered as Draco looked at him questioningly. They had found out about the dance that night, but he had foolishly told Blaise about it before then: bragging that he had made progress. A look of understanding passed over Draco's face as he blinked heavily.  
  
Blaise tapped him on the back in fake sympathy as he saw people coming back in, "Another 'dual'?"  
  
"No, thanks. I will still win you realize." Draco said confidently, but his insides shook slightly, "See you at lunch." He patted his friend on the back and said his hellos to the Slytherins passing by. He walked out of the common room.  
  
There was just no way he could let himself get beaten by anyone let alone his best friend. He had never lost a bet or not done a dare, and he would not start now. He had to get his relationship back with Granger. He had to make it up to Potter and Weasley, but was it really worth it?  
  
Draco kicked a statue that fell over and shattered as he kept walking down the abandoned corridor. He turned left and did a 180 turn as a new door appeared. He walked through the secret passageway as he hit stairs.  
  
He could apologize to Potter, but that would ruin his reputation. All his faithful Slytherins would leave him and Blaise just by association. He could wipe Potter's memory and switch it up again. Then, Hermione would just auto forgive him. She wasn't that naïve though. She would go through questioning, break the spell, and then he might as well have quit school and given Blaise the galleons.  
  
Draco hit another corridor as he tapped his wand among a stone passage. A door revealed itself where Draco walked out among the normal corridors. Seeing the Fat Lady, she gave him a dirty look as he said, "You know I do have the password. I am Head Boy so I could get in." He kept walking along the corridor as he hit a bookshelf. He toggled one book and went the other way. Jogging slightly, he saw the doorknob disappearing. He pulled it before it disappeared.  
  
He still had to shag her. How was he going to shag the little Mudblood before the end of the year when Blaise could just shag her after the New Year Ball. There was one thing he could think of that was foreign to Slytherins. Jealousy. Slytherins got whatever they wanted, but Gryffindors didn't. If he took someone to the ball, Mudblood would be jealous. Jealous enough to come running back to him? Unlikely for this Mudblood. However, if he did ( it would be a miracle) get her to forgive him and become all 'cozy' with him, she would be more likely to become jealous.  
  
Draco stood to make sure no one followed him into this secret passageway. When no one did, he walked up the stairs. There were no portraits in this stone passageway. It was simply lit with torches along the long, winding wall. Reaching the top, Draco tapped a stone with his wand and crouched down below the small passage that appeared. Looking around Draco didn't even go into a dark corner. He would not be seen one way or another.  
  
She was more likely to be jealous of Potter. She never seemed interested in Potter though, and he never showed any interest in her. Maybe he always did. It was a little easy to use Crucio on him. Maybe that is exactly what he wanted: An excuse for Granger to be mad at Slytherin Prince and a pity excuse for Potter to move in. Wasn't he worried about Blaise though?  
  
Draco sat on the ledge of the balcony looking out into the forest. The shadows in its depths seemed to be teasing and taunting anyone who looked over in its direction to come in and explore a bit. Draco looked across to the lake. It was likely to be frozen over until maybe February. Four days time until Christmas, then another week for the ball, then three days until term started.  
  
Bedding Granger would be a challenge. It would be even more of a challenge for him now that Blaise had made such progress and Potter was after Mudblood too. He would have to play dirty without actually cheating. There could be one way. He couldn't be sure without checking, though.  
  
He murmured to himself as he ran through the passage and into the corridor. He took a torch as he ran and threw it at the wall. It opened up for him as he ran toward the fat lady who still frowned but said nothing. He paid no attention to the first years that looked oddly at the Head Boy now sprinting to the corridor he and Blaise met in months ago. Finding the right place he went into yet another secret passage to see the contracts and strings. His was red for having had done some kissing with Hermione, but Blaise's was green for having removed clothing. He growled as he looked at the rules.  
  
Rules of the Hunt:  
  
No excessive force, threats , rape, etc.  
  
No love potions, lust spells, etc.  
  
No casting any kind of spell on Granger.  
  
No outside help.  
  
No telling anyone of the challenge (bet), telling Granger, etc.  
  
No spells, charms, potions given to opponent, etc.  
  
No using Muggle methods such as drinking, drugs, etc.  
  
Winner will receive fifty (50) galleons.  
  
He did a double check on rules 2,3, and 6. No potions, spells, etc. (not clear) or any kind of spell on Granger, however, nothing was said on the contract about charms until rule 6. Rule six was about doing something to the opponent. That meant, technically, he could cast some kind of a charm on Granger.  
  
Would he do that though? That was pretty low for Draco's standards, but it would be humiliation if he lost. Humiliation. Something that would shame the Malfoy name forever. Well, maybe not forever, but his whole Hogwarts life.  
  
The only question would be, what would be the perfect charm?

* * *

"I need a charm to make someone want to lust me." Draco said as he looked him in the eyes.  
  
"That never seemed to be a problem before for you, Mr. Malfoy. Having troubles with your preposition?"  
  
"I'm not surprised you know, however, it is none of your business what I do with this charm."  
  
"I suppose not. You know that I never had much 'luck' in that department. Are you sure you would not like something else instead, something I am more than capable of?"  
  
"I'm positive. Do you know a charm or not?"  
  
"One that can't be detected?"  
  
"Naturally."  
  
"Trevelis. Trelisumpnish. Just a simple swish and flick even you are capable of, Mr. Malfoy."  
  
"Of course."  
  
"Have a good day.  
  
A/N Guess hwo Draco was talking to. The first person to get it right in a review (which is pretty easy) will get any object of their choice into the next chapter.  
  
vvvvvvvvvvvvvv REVIEW!! ! vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv 


	6. Christmas Shopping

A/N: Guys, I almost cried when I got all those reviews. I wasn't going to post for another week because I've been so sick, but the reviews motivated me. A hint: BIG PART COMIN' UP AT MALFOY'S CHRISTMAS DINNER NEXT CHAPTER!!!  
  
If you want me to post so quick again. (I do have relatively long ass chapters) just review. Be sure to read the bottom. I have thanks to my reviewers and the winner of my lil contest. This chapter is a bit choppy just cuz it's right before a big conflict.  
  
Chapter 6: Christmas Shopping  
  
Walking to lunch late the next day, Draco attracted his usual amount of attention. Forgetting his normal robes (he wasn't wearing petty Muggle clothes such as the other houses were doing), Draco came in with a robe his father had custom made for him. The blood red color of the robes caused some lower years to turn away quickly fore they knew that it was normal for Slytherins to come wearing red robes when they had killed or were plotting something of the sort.  
  
Draco swung his legs over the bench, noticing the professors whispering to one another in hushed tones as they looked at the young Slytherin. He took his cup filled with Pumpkin juice and turned to Blaise. Blaise looked at him curiously.  
  
"I have a plot."  
  
"I noticed. Cheers." Blaise said smirking as he toasted with Draco.  
  
"You know that this means I'll win."  
  
"No outside help."  
  
"I know," Draco said. Outside help? Not outside. It was very much inside. "You have your competition now. Just hope Potter doesn't give us anymore trouble."  
  
"I don't think I have to worry." Blaise said unusually nastily. Draco looked at him and nodded, "You might not have to either. You'll find out after the ball, mate. That's all I'm saying so don't try to use Legilimency."  
  
"You know me too well." Draco said, his smirk widening. Blaise raised an eyebrow, "The first match of the year, us versus them is the weekend before New Years. Dumbledore almost cancelled Quidditch."  
  
"He wants to pretend like everything is alright. It's a bit hard isn't it when most people are missing family members." Blaise said as a frown came to his lips, "That's a Deatheater robe. You didn't kill."  
  
Draco shook his head curtly as he looked down at his food. He growled, pushing aside his plate. He glanced around to look at Granger talking to Potter and his friend the rodent's sister. The rodent was nowhere in sight. Granger laughed at something the little Weasley said.  
  
"Christmas in four days. Are you getting you know who something?" Blaise asked him. He nodded, "Tomorrow at Hogsmeade?" Draco nodded again. "Don't go too low."  
  
"What was that?" Draco asked sternly as he watched Blaise get up from the table. Blaise shook his head and walked over to the Gryffindor table. Draco watched him ask Granger something which made her giggle and nod. Draco almost choked when he saw Blaise pick up her hand and kiss it.  
  
"Drakey, how about we get together tonight?" He saw Parkinson turn her ugly little head toward him in what she must have thought to be a seductive manor. He looked disgustedly at her as he got up. He fastened his robes tightly; he walked out of the great hall.  
  
He made his way down to Professor Snape's office quickly. Draco settled himself down in a chair opposite his Head of House's. He was still obviously at the lunch Draco had just left. "Accio textbook." Draco said pointing to one he was using during N.E.W.T potions. He hadn't studied in a fare while, and he had to make a top score in order to be a Healer. A healer. Yes, Draco was going to become a Healer.  
  
He scanned through the ingredients of the Polyjuice potion and rescanned them so that they were stored in his brain. He flipped the page to land upon Veritaserum. He scanned over the ingredients several times and went over the process of identifying the ingredients on the pages just by look.  
  
"I see you've come to see me again." Snape remarked as he sat down behind his desk.  
  
"Yes. I looked up the process of the charm, but it seemed to not want to list what you needed to do to strengthen the charm. Lust charms are illegal as much as love potions or spells, obviously, so I need you to tell me what to do." Draco said putting down the potions book.  
  
"You need elements of jealousy. However long Miss Granger is jealous is however long the charm will last, strengthening it. I recommend taking in a…" He paused and gave him a stern look, "lady companion that she is acquaintances with."  
  
"This is where problems begin. She will hardly be jealous enough if I take on a companionship with the more 'presenting' witches of Gryffindor, and I hardly think someone like Weasley will be willing unless I had another lust spell, and I myself am not willing to do that." Draco said fiddling with things on Snape's desk.  
  
"What kind of a Slytherin Pureblood are you if you cannot even seduce a sixteen year old witch to sleep with you? All Granger has to do is walk in on you in bed with the girl." Snape slapped his hand away from his custom made scales while calming down, "Use my fire whiskey if you must. Slip it into her drink at dinner."  
  
"I have one week and four days until the ball. What will my timeline be?" Draco asked, fully unwilling to think.  
  
"Must I spoon-feed you? Come on, Malfoy! I suppose you want Christmas off to visit with your friends so sleep with the Weasley girl the day after Christmas. Go out with her so Granger keeps jealous, of course. Kiss, do whatever you want. Whatever it is that young adolescences to when they are not bedding each other I hardly care. Cast the charm on Granger right before the ball. It will take its full effect by midnight at the latest if you did it correctly. I trust you not to be fully incompetent. You will separate the Muggle from Blaise, and the kiss at midnight should seal the deal. Go into your dormitory, bed her, and your string should turn gold." Snape said no chantingly while fingering his wand.  
  
"Is there anything else I need to know?"  
  
"Remember that this particular charm is only a magnifier to what the person is feeling, per say. Useless emotion if you ask me. Make it the whole deal, Malfoy. Apologize to her, do whatever you must or she will most likely just stay mad at you even when she is lusting you."  
  
"Thank you sir."  
  
"Just leave Malfoy. You are wasting my free time. I still have things to do."  
  
"Yes sir. Goodbye, Professor."

* * *

Walking into the bathroom he saw Granger without a shirt on. Tsk. He smirked as he took off his own night shirt. The door slammed shut causing Granger to look around the steam to see Draco.  
  
"Get out, Malfoy." Spat Granger. She grasped the nearest towel and buttoned up her pants.  
  
"I'm sorry darling," He purred sarcastically, "I thought this was my bathroom too. While you plan to clearly take a bath, I thought I would just take a shower."  
  
"I do not trust you with me while I am wandless let alone naked, you pervert." She said putting her shirt back on and dropping the towel, "Now get out."  
  
"No." He said dropping the last of his pajamas and stepping out of them.  
  
"I will curse you. I want to take a bath quickly then you can take a shower if you wish!"  
  
"I don't think I will, my dear Hermione."  
  
"Out!"  
  
"No." He said with an air of finality. She groaned frustrated and walked out of the bathroom, slamming the door behind her. He smirked to himself and dropped his boxers, walking into the shower.

* * *

"So you have this whole plan going, Draco. Why even bother with a gift?" Blaise asked him mildly interested while he shopped for a gift for his mother.  
  
"Just some magnification." Draco said while looking through a music shop with his friend. He could get her an instrument, but he didn't know if the Muggle knew how to play or would like to learn.  
  
"I think I'll get mum an authentic book of Muggle Bach. Just a few hundred Galleons." Blaise said while looking through a quick ship owl order form. He walked to the clerk and gave him his vault number and gift order number. The man's face lit up as he excepted the contract.  
  
"I don't think I want anything from here. Let's apparate to Knockturn Alley. I still need something for my mum and Bella." Draco sighed referring to Bellatrix Lestrange. Deatheater or no she was still his favorite aunt.  
  
"I need something for father, your mother, and Bella also. I think I'll be able to get all my items at Knockturn Alley too." Blaise said causing the old clerk to cringe with fear.  
  
"I'll meet you at the entrance." Draco said picturing the entrance of Knocturn alley, wizards and witches in dark cloaks and nasty expressions mulling into different stores and an opening that showed Diagon Alley with children and adults laughing and talking to one another and tossing snow.  
  
Draco felt himself drop down. He looked around to see Blaise step down next to him, "What do you think Bella would like?"  
  
Blaise shrugged and a smirk came to his face, "Borgin and Burkes." Draco faced his friend and laughed, "Dirty place. If my father hadn't been looking for a place to sell goods, I never would have had to have gone in there."  
  
"How about gloves for your mother?" Blaise asked him, "'A witch can never have too many white gloves.' My mother has got to have at least a dozen."  
  
"A dozen and one. I got her a pair." Draco said smirking, "Are your folks coming over to my place? My mother is doing some kind of a formal dinner. I know the Parkinson's are coming, the Lestrange's, the Bulstrode's, a handful of people."  
  
"Yes. Mum expects I'll let her pick out a dress robe. I think I'll surprise dear old mum by buying one today."  
  
"You're on your own mate. I've got at least twenty dress robes I haven't even looked at in my closet at the manor." Draco said entering a shop with witches ogling at display cases.  
  
Draco pushed through the crowd and looked at a bewitched bracelet.  
  
_Finest platinum dug up by mountain trolls at Kingsley Mountain. The magical properties of this fine bracelet are set to alert the beautiful witch wearing it of the blood coursing through the veins of the witch's companion. A pureblooded witch's best friend this exquisite platinum, diamond studded bracelet is priced at a mere 250 Galleons.  
_  
"250 Galleons? This bracelet best do more than identify blood at 250 Galleons." Draco muttered to Blaise going up to the shop's clerk, "What else does that little thing do?"  
  
"Master Malfoy… I was hoping you would be interested. The bracelet's properties are so far unknown but the trolls seemed to be raving when they handed it over to the jewelry maker. Come with me, Malfoy." The middle aged wizard said leading him over to the display case. Taking it out, the witches surrounding it sighed and left the shop.  
  
"I didn't say I would be getting it. I am currently looking for a gift for my mother, and she does not need jewelry to tell her who the right sort of people are. The blood that courses through my veins and the veins of our companions," He pointed to Blaise who was looking at some other pieces of jewelry, "is relatively similar."  
  
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy, but look closely at the jewel in the middle of this bracelet," The wizard pointed to a ruby in the middle, "The gold was found with this encrusted in this particular piece. Natural remnants of the key ingredient to a piece of Sorcerer's Stone."  
  
"And with Nicholas Flamel deceased there is no use for this being priced at 250 Galleons. My school books for seven years bought in mint condition are worth only half of this." Draco alleged.  
  
"Are you sure Mr. Malfoy? 200 Galleons."  
  
"Done." Draco said writing out his personal banker to arrange the Gold transfer.  
  
"I'll take these two." Blaise said handing his purchases over to the clerk. He made his arrangements and the two left the shop.  
  
"How about a break?" Draco asked his friend looking into Diagon Alley. Blaise shrugged shrinking his bags down and pocketing them.  
  
The two walked in light conversation to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor where they met with their two best friends: Harry and Ron. Blaise groaned while walking up to Mrs. Fortescue to get their ice cream.  
  
"How are you doing with that bet, Malfoy?" Ron pondered with a lopsided grin under his aqua eyes.  
  
He was bluffing. He didn't know anything. Blaise wouldn't have told him. The string would have had changed colors, and what reason would Blaise have for telling those two anyway? He knew they had free reign to tell Granger, and then they would both be ruined. Unless Blaise found a way around it to tell them. Then, he could be the hero and noble person for telling them. Granger would trust him then. That bastard!  
  
No. Blaise wouldn't. That was just too dirty for a Slytherin. Blaise was above that. But then, hadn't he, Draco, been the one to fumble around the rules to sink to a Hufflepuff's level to win the bet. Had he really underestimated his friend that much.  
  
Wait a second. Draco grasped his wand under his robes, "Legilemens." He muttered without his lips moving. He penetrated Weasley's mind. Thoughts of anger toward his sister flooded his vision before Weasley closed off his mind.  
  
"Are you kidding me? He tried to read my mind." Ron said to Harry while Blaise came back and sat down casually beside Draco, handing him his milkshake.  
  
Harry shrugged and looked at Draco, "So what made you start the bet? Just bored one day?"  
  
"For once I truly do not understand what you are babbling about, Potter." Draco said, risking a sideways glance at Blaise.  
  
"Don't pretend, Malfoy. You're not a good liar. We know all about the bet. Why Hermione? Did she get in your way?"  
  
"Did you just suddenly notice she wasn't just a bookworm? Did you sneak a glance through that shared bathroom you got?" Harry added on fingering his wand.  
  
"You don't know squat, and you have no proof. If you want another dual, just say so." Blaise murmured kicking some snow underneath the table.  
  
"Shrieking shack. Right now."  
  
A/N: Thanks to: musiclover86, fictiongurl, 4evrdracosgirl, zoltaire, neopolitan510 (I know I saw that on her website too maybe a month ago), lanna1186 (what's your item? just email me and ill try and use it), very-silly-girl, Trisha Malfoy, MANGA DEVIL, Moisie, JeanB (my first long review! I love you for it!), josie (Aint it the truth? I mean how do people go off saying her songs are what they like? She needs someone to help her write when the light is off then it isn't on! And I know I messed up sorry :( I have no beta), Obsessed fan, nimsa(yup shes an idiot), daughterofthemoon00  
  
I EXPECT JUST AS MANY REVIEWS IF YOU WANT A CHAPTER SOON! Here's a bit of what you can expect in the next chapter:  
  
Deatheaters  
  
Dualing  
  
Blaise's family  
  
History on Malfoys (think about that one...) 


	7. Confessions of the Youngest

A/N: I WRITE CHAPTERS LITERALLY!! LITERALLY!!! TWICE AS LONG AS MOST PEOPLE!! MORE THAN TWICE AS LONG AND I POST IN LESS AMOUNT OF TIME!!! WHAT TO I GET?!?!? LIKE THREE REVIEWS!!! I REFUSE TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER WHICH IS THE PLOT BECAUSE I DECIDED I DIDN'T WANT TO MAKE THIS CHAPTER 5THOUSAND WORDS!!!!! I expect to get a minimum of fifteen reviews or I refuse to post the whole dinner which will have one extra guest and conflict between The Golden trio, some Gryff folks, and of course the youngest of the Malfoy Manner.  
  
Chapter 7: Confessions of the Youngest  
  
Waking up the following morning at a quarter past six after Quidditch practice, Draco stretched silently and rolled over on his stomach. Draco groaned in frustration at the coming night. Christmas dinner. He got up dutifully and pulled on some robes. Taking a step back to look at the end of his bed, Draco almost fell over in pain. The duel a few days ago.  
  
Draco sucked it up and grabbed his shrunken present for his mother. He walked toward his door and walked out it to see the common room empty. The Floo Network was unlocked to his house today so that would be easiest to take. He took floo powder in his hand before he realized he had forgotten something.  
  
Rushing to his room, Draco grabbed the letter he had written earlier along with a present and went into the bathroom and into Granger's house. He saw a relatively big pile of presents in front of her bed. He put his letter along with a rose he summoned on her bedside table and put her present on top of her pile. Taking one look at her sleeping form Draco had an urge to touch her face and run his fingers through her silky brown hair.  
  
Shaking his head at the stupid urge, Draco went through her door into the living room to throw powder into the living room fire stating clearly, "Malfoy Manner."  
  
Draco wiped himself off and saw a house elf rush toward his side, "Where is mother?" He asked as the house elf hurriedly brushed the marble floors. The house elf kneeled before him saying, "In the tea room with Masters Lestranges."  
  
Draco nodded to the house elf in approval and went up his stairs. Passing portraits and landscapes, Draco felt a cold feeling sweep through him. He turned right and felt his footsteps echo through his large house on the now wooden floors. He passed maybe fifteen doors before he turned another corridor. Walking past more portraits of his ancestors, Draco made sure to keep quiet and a sneer on his face. Draco turned left and passed seven doors before he reached the door he was looking for.  
  
Draco entered to see his mother with a teacup in one hand sitting on his familiar antique sofa. Draco walked through the large room to the other end where his mother was sitting with his aunt and uncle.  
  
"Hello mother." He said as she put her teacup down to give her son a halfhearted hug. Her face softened and she kissed Draco on the cheek making sure not leave lipstick on his cheek.  
  
"Draco darling. You are earlier than I expected. Good. You can have tea with your aunt and uncle before you change for dinner tonight."  
  
"Yes. I thought I'd open presents and have breakfast then get ready by noon. Hello Rodolphus. Bella." He said politely while shaking the hand of his uncle and taking his aunt in a hug.  
  
"Draco! You look fabulous. We got your presents in owl post this morning. I must say I loved the sword. You know how I am about 14th century weapons." Bellatrix said sitting back down and touching her now grown out hair. Escaped for three years now the Deatheaters that had not been caught ad gotten their lives back to what they were, especially the Lestranges after being let off after the Longbottoms got their memory back thanks to a new potion.  
  
"Yes… Draco how has Hogwarts been going. I heard from the Zabinis that a dirty Muggle was made Head Girl. I knew Hogwarts was going to the dogs when Dumbledore became Headmaster, yet, I never anticipated such drastic changes. When your great-great uncle was Headmaster, Purebloods were only Prefects and Heads. Well at least the Slytherin house remains pure." Rodolphus whispered in his quiet, deep voice.  
  
"You should have sent him to Durmstrang. That's the only decent school in Europe now. There is a decent school for the true arts in the States, however, America's head wizard of the Wizengamot happens to be in Dumbledore's league." Bellatrix put in taking a sip from her tee and straightening out her skirt.  
  
"Durmstrang is just too far away. Bulgaria? Besides that Karkaroff is not my favorite person as you know, my dear sister. Draco only has half a year left before he joins us in the real world, and it is best to be known as Dumbledore's student as well as a Malfoy. All that's left is to choose a bride." Narcissa gave Draco a suggestive glance.  
  
And before Draco could get in a word, Narcissa and Bellatrix started to talk about different women around his age that would make suitable brides to carry on the Malfoy name. Rodolphus and Draco meanwhile sat sipping tea and listening to the conversation absentmindedly. The next time Draco looked at the clock it was nearly ten. He tapped impatiently.  
  
"Draco do not be rude. If you want to go open presents simply excuse yourself. I want you to meet me at noon in the west wing's dining room for lunch. We have lots to discuss. I want you dressed in casual robes as we will be leaving to go somewhere while the designers finish decorating the house for the ball. Now leave." His mother ushered him out of the room smiling.  
  
Draco grinned and apparated to the main family room. Draco took a moment to soak in he high ceiling made to look like the outside sky that was now dropping down snow softly. He looked around the massive room where an Italian rug was set in the middle and three fireplaces burned around different sitting areas. It almost reminded him of the Royal Warlock's hotel lobby. He shook thought out of his head. Every room in this place was as large as this. Generations of Malfoys were always wealthy.  
  
He spotted the thirty foot Christmas tree and gazed at the pile of forty more presents sitting in what he knew to be his end of the tree. He smirked as he walked over to it. He sat down next to his pile like a little kid at Christmas, and in some ways, wasn't he just that?  
  
Draco grabbed the top one and ripped apart the packaging. He looked in and saw a pile of Galleons. He looked at the card. It was from Pansy. He threw it next to him and grabbed the next one. He took it out of the bag it was in and saw it was from Pansy's mother. It was a platinum ring with a snake running through it. He smirked and put it on his right thumb. It looked good.  
  
He took the next package and discarded the packaging lightly. He saw a card and looked at the name on the bottom. Blaise's mother had sent him two Dragon hide gloves for Quidditch. He would have to look up the type of Dragon this was because it was not one he knew off the top of his head.  
  
He moved all the packages to the side carefully and reached into the bottom to see a card from his mother. He took the wrapper off and cocked an eye at the contents: A broom polishing kit? He had dozens of these. He opened it up dully and saw another note: For your new broom. Now look back where you discarded all those other presents.  
  
He smirked and moved the presents to find a broom shaped wrapper. He tore it off to see a broom in blazing black letters saying: Firebolt Midnight. These were the choice broom for the Quidditch World Cup this year and weren't even legally on market until next summer. He shrunk down all his other presents leaving the wrappers he had already discarded making sure to take the cards he threw down so he could memorize who gave him what for the party tonight. He grabbed the shrunken presents and his gifts and ran for his room in the West Wing.  
  
Looking at the grandfather clock on the right it said 'One hour until you have to get to your room and get dressed to go out with your mother'. He deposited his presents in the middle of the room and ran out to his balcony. Looking out at the snow that was still falling, he mounted his broom. With a heavy kick off he was in the air.  
  
The woods were the first place he headed. He gained steady speed as he went deeper into the woods, staying a foot or two above the highest tree top, Reaching speeds he knew for certain that Potter had never reached. The name brought a sour taste in his mouth as he reached the end of his property. His mind drifted to Granger.  
  
He was really starting to feel something beside the hatred he felt for her, and frankly, it scared him a bit. Malfoys were not to be scared. He hated Granger; that was the feeling he was supposed to have. He hated her because she beat him in classes.  
  
The first year of Hogwarts Draco had his cocky attitude that he knew everything about magic because he had been around it all his eleven years. He was young and naïve so he slowly dropped down in his courses. He didn't care. Money could buy him anything! In his second year his father had gotten wind that a Muggleborn child was beating him in every one of his classes beside Potions, and that was only because Professor Snape favored him.  
  
The next year he had increasingly worked a bit harder, yet, he still chose to slack off; his father's beatings decreased. The Mudblood still beat him causing his insults to go harsher, but being apprehensive of his father's words not to get onto the wrong side of Potter until he said, Draco did nothing.  
  
His third year, the Mudblood beat him, and he had found new reason to hate her when she got the nerve to slap him. His fourth year, the Mudblood beat him. His fifth year Draco had gotten Prefect and with the welcoming of the Dark Lord, Draco had to work. He worked his best. He worked his hardest. He passed up Slytherin, he passed up Hufflepuff, and he passed up Ravenclaw. He had passed up and beaten everyone…. Except Hermione Jane Granger. With his father getting thrown in prison, Draco barely scratched Excellent on his O.W.Ls.  
  
His sixth year, he was neck and neck until the last day of his N.E.W.T classes. He had tied with her in all her work, yet, she still won. She had Muggle Studies, and he didn't. She won. He hated her because even when he thought he won, he didn't.  
  
Then, he also hated her because she was best friends with the boy who lived. Who could surpass the boy who lived?  
  
"I'M DRACO MALFOY. I AM A PUREBLOODED WIZARD WITH BLUE BLOOD THAT COURSES THROUGH MY VEINS! MY FATHER IS LUCIUS MALFOY. I MADE PREFECT. I MADE HEAD BOY!!!! DOES ANYONE NOTICE THAT? NO!" Draco screamed his lungs out causing animals to rustle beyond where he was flying.   
  
People noticed how Potter defeated the Dark Lord by pure luck that his parents put some loony enchantment on him. People notice how he got into the Triwizard Tournament. People notice how his Godfather was a mass murderer technically. People didn't notice how Potter broke school rules. People didn't notice how he broke the law. People didn't notice how Potter broke school rules. People didn't notice that Potter didn't deserve to be Head Boy, and that's why he wasn't. People didn't notice that Potter just runs and hides.  
  
"Damn Potter. Damn him and his duel." Draco said flashing back to the Hogsmeade trip shortly. He shook his head and pushed his broom to the limits. The forest ended, and Draco saw a road. Casting an delusionment charm, he realized he never saw this road before. He looked behind the forest and realized he couldn't see his mansion anymore.  
  
Draco estimated he still had half an hour before he had to apparate back to get dressed. He followed the road that broke off into a light trail. He recognized this place. The blood traitor's house. Weasley's broken down house.  
  
Seeing heads of red coming out of the house along with a head of black and brown, Draco knew he didn't belong there. He watched carefully while eight of them went to a shed and took out brooms.  
  
"Come on Hermione. Just once play Quidditch with us." He heard someone say while Hermione said something in a quieter tone he couldn't hear. He flew in closer and hid behind woods that started up again.  
  
He felt anger course through him again as he saw Potter grasp Granger around the waist and put her on his broom. He flew up and she grasped his hands behind her. He smiled and whispered something into her ear. She relaxed and smiled.  
  
"Oi! You two done down there we'd like to play some Christmas Quidditch before I turn Bill or Charlie's age." Ron said with a playing voice holding his wind and waving it to make six hoops appear in a large courtyard like area.  
  
"Are we having Christmas dinner here or are we going back to Hogwarts?" Harry asked hanging onto Hermione with one hand.  
  
"You're not going back to Hogwarts, Potter. Charlie and I haven't seen you in ages." Said one with long hair and an earring.  
  
"So are you and Hermione dating then, Harry?" Fred Weasley asked.  
  
"The way you're hanging on to her I reckon you want to cop a feel." George Weasley added.  
  
"Harry and I are not dating." Hermione said sheepishly with a blush on her cheeks as Harry grinned and got the ground to let her off.  
  
"She's going to the ball on New Year's Eve with someone that is very much not Harry." Ginny Weasley said with a smirk on her face, "It's a bit romantic how Blaise asked her. She's been seeing him for a good few months now. He-" Draco felt his face reddening with anger as Hermione grasped Ginny's mouth to stop her from talking.  
  
"Who's Blaise?" Charlie Weasley, whom he recognized from his fourth year, with a curious glance.  
  
"Zabini. He's Draco Malfoy's other half. He's in Slytherin. Deatheater. How could you see him for months without us knowing?" Harry asked angrily.  
  
"Well if you had cared enough you would have asked where I went after dinner!" She said angrily.  
  
"I used to ask, but then you started to get annoyed and tell me you had Head Girl duties!"  
  
"And you wondered why he came over to the Gryffindor table the other day. He kissed my hand for crying out loud. Harry are you daft?"  
  
"I thought it was a fling or a pleading statement."  
  
"And that's all we have time for tonight kids." Fred Weasley broke in with a nervous laughter.  
  
"Join us tomorrow for another episode of…" George Weasley looked at his brother and together they cried, "Lover's Quarrels!"  
  
They laughed slightly and Potter apologized quietly and whispered something else in her ear causing her to smile and give him a hug. Draco growled silently.  
  
"We're having dinner out in the yard tonight. We invited half of Gryffindor, and mum and dad invited some wizarding folk. It's their thirtieth anniversary slash Christmas party…"  
  
"I'll be there…" Draco whispered as he focused on his room. With a POP! He was gone.  
  
"Did you see that?" Harry whispered to Ron pointing at the woods. Ron walked with Harry while the others played Quidditch.  
  
"I think it was Malfoy, but I don't know what he would be doing at the Burrow." Ron whispered to his friend taking a look at the footprints that were marked in the snow.  
  
"He had the same charm cast on him that I did when leaving the Dursleys' place in fifth year. It was broad daylight though." Harry said taking out his wand. He waved a spell on it that he had learned from Lupin when he was talking about the Marauder's Map.  
  
"Malfoy…" Ron said as the words Draco D. Malfoy appeared, "This means trouble. He knows where I live, and I think he's actually starting to fancy Hermione even if he would never admit it."  
  
"She deserves better than him and Zabini combined. Let him come. We'll duel again. He might have been distracted last time, but fair is fair. We won so now it's 1:1 for each. Without unforgivables he is nothing. Lousy Deatheater."  
  
"It's Christmas, mate. Let's go play some Quidditch." Ron nodded to the pitch where the game had already started. Harry grasped his Firebolt and led the way.  
  
A/N: I'm half way through writing the next chapter. If you want it real bad go back and review all the chapters but I refuse until I get at least five new people review and a minimum review of 15. 


	8. One Too Many Guests

A/N: The secret guest is in here. I've opted to post on either Fridays or Saturdays from now on unless I get over ten reviews per chapter. I'm not arguing anymore. Just know that I actually finished this chapter last Sunday because my friend Lucius in my head helped me write. Also know that I have chapter nine written and am working on chapter ten. (You get a preview from the middle of chapter nine at the end) So the sooner I get my reviews the sooner I post. Your choice folks. THIS STORY IS OFFICIALLY MY LONGEST!! WOOT WOOT!!!  
  
Ahem Ahem: I would like to dedicate this chapter to draco'slilgirl! Go read her story! It's good and I can't wait more. I always love when I read someone's story, reccomend mine to them and they actually like it enough to review! Dedicated to you girl!  
  
THANKS TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!!! I LOVE ALL OF YOU!! KEEP REVIEWING!!  
  
Chapter 8: One Too Many Guests  
  
Draco looked around the dining hall. The long table was set up with a good fifty or more chair with plenty of space between. The ceiling beams were decorated with holly and round glass balls. Maids and servers were bustling around the room setting the table while the house elves used their magic to finish hanging decorations.  
  
Draco looked at the large clock that sat between two armored knights. He had an hour left. The decorators looked like they had it covered all around the house so Draco apparated to his room with a CRACK!  
  
He looked at his presents still sitting on his floor but unpacked. He went over who gave him what in his mind. Draco closed his eyes and opened them quickly. Walking to his closet, he opened the door and walked in. Taking step after step he found himself at his dress robes. Red, green, black, silver, more colors, he didn't know which one to pick.  
  
Blood red was inappropriate, and bland red meant defeat. Black was too informal. He could take a gray dress robe with green lining to match Slytherin colors. He took the robe off the rack and lined it up against him to look in the mirror. He took his normal slicked back hair and shook it slightly. He ran his hands through it and took some of the gel off by magic. He had already taken a shower so he wouldn't bother with another one. He put the robe back on the rack and grabbed a dark green one with light green seams.  
  
He took off his robe and threw it on the floor. A house elf could get it later that night. He tossed his dress robe and threw it over his head. Putting his arms through he went to another corner of his closet to pick dress shoes. He slipped them on and sighed. He hated occasions where he had to wear dress robes.  
  
He walked out of his closet and into his bathroom. Looking at his hair, he decided to brush it to where it slightly curled at the ends and leave it hanging down.  
  
Draco heard the doorbell ring. He looked at the clock to see it ring exactly seven. The guests were to arrive between seven and seven thirty so he apparated down to the blue room where the guests were to socialize until eight when dinner would be served. He met his mothers eyes and nodded to him to make sure the two ball rooms would be done.  
  
He smirked as he came into the 'children's' ball room. The ceiling freshly painted, he made sure the paint was dry. He watched the platinum snakes curl in and out of the railings. He looked to see the speakers fully working with a CD Draco had set up to last a few hours with music that he was certain would not be played in the 'adult's' ball room. He quickly checked the other room and apparated back into the blue room. A servant brought in the first nine guests.  
  
His mother greeted them first and he came up to greet them also. They were just a few of his parents' friends: The McNairs, Karkaroff, and then his face brightened.  
  
"Mrs. Bullstrode." He said taking her hand and kissing it lightly as she greeted him with a curtsey, "Mr. Bullstrode." He said shaking the man's hand, "Travis." He said to the eight year old child who would be put to bet after the dinner, "Millicent." He said taking her hand and pulling her away from her family.  
  
"Draco. I assume we're the first to arrive, unless of course you hid some of our other mates." She said with a raising of her eyebrow.  
  
"You're the first to arrive. I am glad to see the Thomas's not yet present. Herman gets on my last nerve, and because he's in sixth year I have to put up with him all night." Draco growled looking out a window.  
  
"It's your best mate that talks to him. You don't have to tell me about that brat. How he was made a Slytherin is a mystery to me."  
  
"His father is a Deatheater along with his mother. The parents are fine. He's nothing like them yet. Excuse me. I have guests to greet."  
  
He walked to the door and continued to greet incoming guests pleased to see that more of his chums were arriving from Hogwarts as well as Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.  
  
"Lily!" He said particularly loud causing his mother to silently glare at him. He looked down and smiled as he watched the blue eyed brunette walk to him silently. It looked like she had her Quidditch face on as she ran her hand through her curly, soft brown hair down to her low-cut red dress robe. Shifting her hips slightly but surely enough to attract herself attention she walked past several people straight to Draco.  
  
"Draco." She whispered pushing him to a corner no one was paying attention to anymore. She put one hand on his cheek and the other tangled in his hair as she probed his mouth with her tongue. Draco's placement of hands didn't even cause her to jump or get distracted from her task at hand.  
  
After a few minutes, she broke apart from him. He looked at her, his face lust stricken, "How is school?"  
  
"I'm currently getting N.E.W.T grades in all my classes, and I have been offered an apprenticeship after school lets out by Headmaster Karkaroff for the Dark Arts position as the current Professor will be retiring. However pleasing the position is, I do not think I will accept it as there are things you cannot do while at Durmstrang." She said quickly leading him out of the corner and wiping lipstick off the side of his mouth, "How is life with the blood traitor?"  
  
"Dumbledore made me Head Boy. Now I have power over Potter, yet, no one seems to care. I almost killed him the other night. I had him right there with Cruciatus, but Blaise tackled me to the ground breaking my concentration. Torturing him felt oddly right." Draco said with a lopsided grin.  
  
"I suppose you haven't been made a Deatheater yet." She said touching her left upper arm and then quickly pulled her hand away.  
  
"I cannot being under the traitor Snape's nose. Why Lord has him with him I can only imagine he-"  
  
"This is not the place to discuss such matters, Draco. I thought if I could hear you talking about Severus that everyone could if they wanted to. Please do try and have some common sense. Tonight you will have a special guest." Said Greggory Goyle senior as Draco turned. He nodded and looked at him questioningly. He would not ask a rude question unless he was given permission.  
  
"Goodbye Draco." He said turning away to mingle with a few other guests.  
  
"Blaise!" Draco shouted out while Lily went to go talk to a few other Hogwarts students she hadn't seen in a while.  
  
"Did you see what my mum got me?" Blaise asked Draco right away. Draco shook his head. Blaise got out his wand and enlarged what he brought.  
  
"Are you joking?" Draco asked him as he grasped the broomstick. "I got the same thing. I reckon your mum talked to my mum. I bet the whole Slytherin team has got them."  
  
"You know what else? Mum said that Dad talked to Bagman, and Bagman told him that recruiters would come watch our first game of the season. Their season doesn't start for another month. They are looking for seventh years to play professional Quidditch like when Krum was a seventh year. You know I bet you and Potter have got pretty good shots at being asked to play."  
  
"Don't talk to me about Potter. He's beaten me at Quidditch for so long now. I've been working on my speed though the whole summer. With this broom, I can fly faster than he can on his Firebolt. I reckon I'll finally beat him."  
  
"You better beat him. With you as Quidditch captain and me the Keeper, we have the Gryffindor team. Even with Potter on the team, if you somehow don't catch the snitch, I won't let them get past me. Our chasers are good. They're real good Draco, and Weasley won't know what hit him."  
  
"I suppose. You know how Potter pulled that Wronski Feint back in fourth year? I think he's forgotten the move. If I pull a Wronski Feint and you guys learn the Porkoff play, I think we got the perfect thing to show those recruiters. We have the Quidditch pitch for Thursday. That gives us two days to get used to our new brooms. Our whole team is here obviously except Millicent, I believe. I think she's at St. Mungos visiting her grandmum."  
  
"She questioned Millicent's father didn't she? The Dark Lord, he used Cruciatus on her didn't he?" Blaise asked lowering his voice so only Draco could hear him. Draco put on a nasty face as he turned around.  
  
"Tonight after dinner and dancing while the adults get wasted, we're off. We're challenging the Gryffindor team for a game once and for all. If something happens to someone, we'll have tonight. I'm bringing my set of balls."  
  
"With Millicent gone like that? Whose going to be our reserve chaser?" Blaise asked while Draco's eyes trailed to Lily talking to Pansy Parkinson as Pansy seemed to glare at her with jealousy.  
  
"Dinner is served." Said a servant just as Draco was approaching Lily.

* * *

Narcissa tapped her whine glass as everyone started to eat the finally course. She stood up as everyone looked. Draco noticed the chair at the end of the table empty as he ate, "I have an announcement to make. We are expecting a guest tonight, and it looks as though he has arrived. Would everyone please applaud my husband, Lucius Malfoy at having outsmarted the skirts of the Ministry once again."  
  
Draco's face paled as he felt a hand on his. Lily smirked at him and applauded slightly. Draco sat petrified and ignored Blaise's looks of concern toward him and looked at the door to the dining room.  
  
In walked a well fed white blonde haired man with a smirk on his face and a black dress robe on. He held a paper in his hand and handed it to his wife while everyone applauded. He stood before them at the end of the table and looked toward Draco while quickly snapped out of the trance he seemed to be in.  
  
"The numbskulls at the Ministry of Magic finally believed I was under the Imperius Curse, and I am free of all charges." Lucius started as he waved his hands around toward the window, "I am glad to be out of Azkaban after an overdue amount of time of two years. I have been caught up by my beautiful wife on the happenings in the ministry and around our circle. However much she has told me, I am looking forward to getting my life back to normal and have gotten my job in the Ministry back as well as all the companies that have been in my family for generations and will remain so with my own flesh and blood, my proud son who has made Quidditch Captain and Head Boy at Hogwarts this year."  
  
Draco hid his shiver well within his robe as he stood to face his father and receive applause from around him.  
  
"I am also glad to announce that this year Draco graduates from Hogwarts with top grades and will most obligingly receive N.E.W.Ts in all his classes. He will become a Healer at St. Mungos which happens to be the perfect cover for keeping the Malfoy family name a Pureblooded one out of dirt. This dinner is in celebration of his induction as a Deatheater and loyal servant to Voldemort in the inner circle in six months time."  
  
His body froze along with his mind. Draco smirked as his father gave him a stern look, "I thought that the time has come for me to join in such a worthy cause and am happy to be inducted at such a young age even if it couldn't be earlier thanks to a blood traitor such as Albus Dumbledore." Draco said fakely.  
  
"And along with Draco will be inducted all Hogwarts seventh years as well as any seventh years from Durmstrang and Beauxbatons present who have not yet been inducted." Lucius announced as the students included stood up to receive applause.  
  
"With that, let us retreat to our ball rooms while everyone under 13 needs to floo back to their respected home! Anyone under fifteen go to the left while everyone else come with me! New Deatheaters have choice in going to the children's or adult's ball room!" Lucius announced looking at his son and beckoning him to come with him.  
  
Draco shot a look at Blaise that told him to go ahead and choose to go with the other students. Draco sighed as his father led him into the front foyer. When Lucius stopped, Draco stopped.  
  
"How did you manage to slip from their grasp? I could only imagine that those within the Order of the Phoenix would want you to keep you in Azkaban." Draco said rather rudely. He flinched preparing for a blow.  
  
"You have every right to ask, I suppose, yet, I would have rather had you ask in a way that wasn't so rude. Draco you are no longer under my care. You are an adult. The Order of the Phoenix members only have so much power in the Ministry matters without actually revealing they are in the Order. Without Dementors it would have been easy to escape." Lucius said simply.  
  
"But you haven't answered my question. How did you get out when they had you back in my fifth year. They could have tested you with Veritaserum or looked for traces of spell evidence." Draco replied, unsatisfied with his father playing around the question.  
  
"Yes that would have been simpler had they tested me, but after two years in a follow-up trial all evidence from me was gone. I claimed the Dark Lord put me under the Imperius curse. They would have to test his wand. How would they get his wand?" Lucius asked pausing to make sure Draco didn't want to add anything, "Veritaserum can be beat, my son, as you will learn from the Dark Lord himself.  
  
"Draco, come with me. I have a present for you for Christmas." Lucius grasped Draco's shoulder and led him outside. "Focus on me and apparate with me."  
  
Draco concentrated on his father's touch as he felt himself being lifted off the ground. He closed his eyes and kept all his thoughts of his father. Bracing himself for the surprise, he heard a CRACK! which meant he was there. He opened his eyes to feel himself land.  
  
He immediately started sweating in the warm weather that was unlike the weather they currently had back at home. Looking around, Draco was surprised to see himself standing on sand. He was even more surprised to find himself staring into just dark blue sky and the unknown abyss of an ocean.  
  
Lucius grasped Draco's shoulder even more and turned him around. Draco came face to face with grass starting to grow and a walkway made of pebbles that led to a door of a beach house. He walked to the edge of the beach and peered around the other side of the house. He saw what looked like a luscious tropical forest and nothing else but the massive palm trees.  
  
"Draco, this is yours. Happy Christmas." Lucius spoke, startling Draco as   
  
Draco had forgotten his father taken him here.  
  
"Father, thank you." Draco said walking back into the sand he had started off in and walked onto the pebbled path. "What unlocking charm do I have to use?"  
  
"No charm. This land is un-plottable by so many spells that you would have to be brought here or have been told the exact name, which you will set, to be able to find it. This island is yours Draco."  
  
"Where is it located? This certainly isn't Europe."  
  
"Mediterranean."  
  
Draco opened the door to see furniture already placed and a staircase up. He looked into the living room and smiled, coming to the other end to see a small patio of some kind with glass doors around it. This certainly wasn't the Malfoy Manner, nor was it big enough for him to live in year round, but this was such a beautiful place and so secluded enough that it was better than anything Draco could ask for. He opted not to look at the rest of the downstairs and upstairs.  
  
He would return here with Blaise and the rest of his friends and cronies tomorrow. Screw the plot with Granger. He would gladly hand over the galleons to his friend. Draco still had the prize.  
  
A/N: Confrontation about Deatheaters next chapter with Blaise... Also they meet up with the Weasley's Christmas shindig (been watchin beverly hillbillies)!! Email me at tomfeltongurl0mugglenet.com!!

I think the HalfBlood Prince will be Mark Evans because JKR said it'll not be Harry or Tom Riddle...

Middle of chapter nine entitled: Screw the game, this is war

"Screw the game." Draco mumbled as he took a bottle of fire

whiskey and emptied the whole thing within seconds. He tossed the glass

down on the ground somewhere near Weasley's passed out body.  
He took a step forward, only to realize he had no idea what he

was doing anymore. Fire whiskey. It had instant effects. He cursed

himself and tried to keep his mind straight and alert.  
Weasley. Screw her! He'd grab the first witch he saw and fuck

her that night. He could do his whole Weasley whatever it was he was

doing with her tomorrow.


	9. Bittersweet

A/N: Guys... I finished this chapter on the first of July but the chapter before this isn't even posted so I can't post this either. Didn't get the required reviews so I'll just you know chill... This chapter is long because Draco is becoming a person and getting so much perspective which is how his relationship with Hermione will blossom. I named this chapter for what Draco hears at the end.

IMPORTANT: GUYS I HAVE FINISHED THE STORY WITH EPILOGUE AND EVERYTHING!! I'VE STARTED ON A NEW ONE AND AM UNSURE ABOUT THE SEQUEL! I'M POSTING A NEW CHAPTER LIKE EVERY OTHER DAY IF I GET AT LEAST TWO REVIEWS!! CHEERS  
  
Chapter 9: Bittersweet  
  
He apparated back to the Malfoy Manner and walked into the ballroom for the children where he recognized the music playing as Sum 41. He smirked, walking over to Blaise.  
  
"After term starts, our first Hogsmeade trip of term, you and I are going to my island." Draco bragged.  
  
"Your island? Is that what your father got you after forcing you to become a Deatheater and making myself have the same fate in the process?" Blaise spat out rather bitterly.  
  
Draco was taken aback and moved away from his best mate like he had just been slapped in the face. He recovered quickly and countered, "You would have to deal with becoming a Deatheater eventually!" He quickly lowered his voice, "If it hadn't been for me in the first place, you would have gone to Durmstrang and have the scar on your shoulder along with Lily.  
  
"Our ceremony is in six months. The Potter boy will by then, along with Dumbledore, probably have defeated Voldemort. If they haven't, I have an un-plottable island that I can charm against letting my father in. We hide or we stand up and face the wrath and remember constant vigilance."  
  
Blaise started to giggle under his breath, "Constant Vigilance! Remember how Crouch would say that always pretending to be Moody?"  
  
"I had forgotten. That was always so annoying. I was walking the corridors one night and he comes up behind me and says, 'Constant vigilance, Malfoy! If I was someone else you could be dead now!' then the bloke curses me. He got a letter promptly from my father telling him if he cursed me one more time, cover or no cover, he would receive punishment from him." Draco reminisced, laughing at Crouch.  
  
"He turned you into a pure white albino ferret!" Blaise exclaimed laughter plaguing all his words.  
  
"You weren't there, were you?" Draco asked him.  
  
"Are you joking? Up until sixth year I was everywhere. I was in the corners watching people. You hear a lot when you keep your mouth shut. Now you, on the other hand, like to be the center of attention." Blaise said coolly with an amusing expression on his face.  
  
"I deserved to be the center of attention. Demonstrate your ways." Draco prompted as Blaise pulled him into a dark corner of the room. Draco was about to open his mouth when Blaise covered it with his mouth.  
  
A few minutes later Draco got bored and started to open his mouth again. Blaise shook his head and covered Draco's mouth again. Malfoy huffed indignantly. He tapped his foot impatiently. Blaise stepped on it and pushed him against the wall.  
  
"Honestly, Marijana, you can't be serious." Draco watched in the corner as Marijana Vila, a tall curly brown haired young woman with silver eyes walked with Lily.  
  
He watched the brunette stop her dark haired friend and glare at her when she said, "You know you fancy him. I saw that kiss. It didn't look like it was just a 'hi how have you been this past year and a half' kiss. This was THE kiss."  
  
"Draco is like a brother. I have known him since we were both children just like you have known him. We are all connected through family values and pure blue blood just like the cause the Dark Lord is fighting for." Lily recited in a dark tone, her eyes stinging red before turning back to their ocean color.  
  
"Do not talk about such matters. This place is unsafe for any discussion. Even when we do get back home to Bulgaria, do not talk to me about the Dark Lord. Some of the choices made, and you do know which ones I am talking about, are not smart. I am starting to think Voldemort- I am glad to see you do not cringe at his name- is not the brightest out of two. Dumbledore might be blinded by his ambitions of what the Wizarding community could be, but I do agree with his views more than with our so called leader's. Despite what Father says, I do not wish to become a Deatheater, and I will not. Let everyone know if you must, fore, I would rather get killed in a fight with what I believe in than to pretend like I know some do." Marijana said in a rushed whisper looking around to where Draco and Blaise were hiding.  
  
"Come out you two, fore I have known that you have been hiding and wished to stop here at this point for only that reason." Lily said her back still turned.  
  
"Do not hide like cowards when you are confronted, but fight like men. Hide if you wish to listen not if you wish to spy." Marijana recited non-chantilly.  
  
"I hope I can confirm that you two will not be our problems in having heard what you have. We see your eyes. You have lost your ice, my prince, and I see what you hold deeply buried in your soul. Feelings for another, more than you wish, and a newfound perspective you wish you hadn't gotten." Lily looked into Draco's eyes deeply and walked to touch his chin, tilting his head up to look into her eyes, "I do not need Dark Magic to see what you are thinking, nor will I forget what I see."  
  
"Do not regret your thoughts and your actions. A new generation is being bred, and we are smarter than he wishes us to be. We are smart enough to be of use to He, but a bit to smart to not know better. I will fight in this war with my beliefs. Dumbledore is my supreme. I do not wish to be in these ranks that my friends have been bred in like narrow-minded sheep. I refuse to hide after tonight. I will be protected."  
  
"You need not fear me, though I am on the side of the winning. I have the Dark Mark so I am spoiled forever. I will choose my fate closer to the end as I have both options technically open to me. Draco has already made his choice along with his friend. I am shameful and do not wish my fate or my thoughts on anyone." Lily looked into Draco's eyes and read his feelings, "Do not hide."  
  
"I apologize for you being naïve enough to believe even if it was for a second that the dark side will win. I refuse to be a part of this any longer. I am getting my things and transferring as of now to Hogwarts. I hope we can keep in touch after this is all over. For now I must go before anyone gets wind of this. I will fight for what I believe in without dark magic.  
  
"Blaise you have been in my heart for as long as I can remember as our parents are such good friends. I know their wishes for you, and I hope you choose to take my path." Marijana leaned over to give Blaise a chaste kiss on the lips before smiling, "I will see you once term starts hopefully, even if the chances for my survival in the end is slim. I will continue hoping. If anyone asks where I am tell them just that. Goodbye my dear friend Lily. Good bye Draco, and good luck with your choices." With a distinct crack Marijana apparated.  
  
Lily walked away silently to talk to someone Draco couldn't remember the name of.  
  
"This really ruined my night." Draco said bitterly, looking at the ring with the snake coiling around it. He blew a wave of hot air on the platinum and rubbed it against his robe.  
  
"Are we still on for Quidditch tonight?" Blaise asked taking a grip on the broom he enlarged with a bit of wandless magic.  
  
"I don't even think I'm up for seducing Granger after this. The painful part is, she's right. I feel like a coward."  
  
"The bet's off then?"  
  
"No. I just don't feel in the mood to do anything until tomorrow." Draco raised his eyebrow and smirked, "Shall we go to Weasley's rat hole?"  
  
"And insult him by going anywhere else? Let's go. Alone." Draco added as he went out onto the balcony clutching his own broom, "Mount! Up!" Draco commanded as Blaise and he rose into the sky.  
  
"Don't be going your seeker speed with me! While I'm pretty fast, I heard you and Potter can fly only a coupe of kilometers slower than Krum." Blaise said, beckoning his broom ward at a fast paced, yet slow for Krum, speed.  
  
"Krum is good. He was only in seventh year when he got picked up by a national qualifier team! I mean, he flew twice my top speed at the World Cup. The man has skills."  
  
"They're trying to get him to play for Ireland, but he'd have to move and live there! He doesn't want to move in the first place, and besides, Krum wants to play for his home team!" Blaise yelled as they picked up slightly more speed.  
  
"It's ten degrees to the left!" Draco yelled as he and Blaise adjusted their broom angle, "I wouldn't mind playing for Ireland. They've won so many times now, and living there wouldn't be that big of a deal. Like I couldn't set up an estate there! It's really close to us anyway. Neighbor close! Don't veer off course!"  
  
"And you think you've a shot at making the World Champion team?" Blaise asked him.  
  
"If I can't fly as fast as Potter, and Potter can fly only half of Krum's speed… I doubt it. I am getting faster though. Quidditch isn't my career. Hear the music? We're getting close! Might as well get into some Muggle crap!" He yelled, taking his wand out and transfiguring his clothing into some khaki pants with a shell for a belt, a white shirt with a button up shirt over him and a white stone necklace.  
  
"Potter can fly as fast as Krum could at the World Cup. I've seen one of their practices. Weasley has improved and Potter is as good as Krum. Maybe you've exaggerated your thoughts and you can fly that fast." Blaise transfigured his clothing into a pair of jeans, a button up shirt, and a dark necklace.  
  
"Start decent." Draco ordered, ignoring Blaise's comments that still lingered in his thoughts. He had to improve and show up Potter.  
  
He picked up his speed and dove for the ground quite fast and stopped an inch from it. Blaise followed his lead but fumbled, obviously not being a Seeker which he was never going to be.  
  
"Oi! Look Harry! It's Malfoy. Look at the wittle bitty Dwaco. Firewhiskey?" Draco looked at the youngest Weasley male and had to smirk. He was drunk beyond recognition.  
  
"Ron, what are you blabbering about? Malfoy wouldn't possibly be here!" Hermione turned around from having talked to someone he couldn't recognize at the moment. Loony something or another was her name.  
  
"On the contrary Granger. I could possibly be here and do seem to be here." Draco stated in a very cold demeanor.  
  
"Get out of here Malfoy. You're trespassing on Ron's dad's property. You have no business here. We have Aurors inside that will dispose of you if necessary." Hermione stated as Ron waved her off saying, "It's just ferret! It's Christmas. Let him stay and have a-" and fell to the ground, emitting a very loud snoring sound.  
  
"You heard the chap. So how are you Granger?" Draco asked stepping over Ron's head and closer to her.  
  
"Move away from me Malfoy. Even if he's incapable of doing anything, I will certainly curse you. I am more than capable. Harry's more than capable too. He's using the loo at the moment, but he will be back to curse you if for some reason I can't." Hermione spat at him, turning her back on him and grabbing a bottle of water from the table.  
  
"Harsh." Blaise said clapping his friend on the back and moving toward Hermione.  
  
"And you? How can you continue to be friends with such a git and still continue to see me? I am not in the mood for games, Zabini." She asked him harshly.  
  
"I've known him for longer than I've known you. He has his faults as everyone else does. If you do not wish to go out or be my girlfriend, where this was heading, then leave me be." In Draco's opinion, this was the most loaded piece of rubbish he had ever heard of. Blaise was lying and he couldn't see how Granger could buy that from a Slytherin.  
  
"I'm sorry. You are right, and I have no right to think of you what I do of him by association." She leaned in and kissed him. Parvati Patil and her sister along with Lavender Brown turned around and giggled.  
  
She bought the bull crap Zabini fed her. Damn Merlin! How can one woman drive him so completely and utterly INSANE? He replaced his thoughts of jealousy when Blaise pushed Mudblood against a tree trunk with anger.  
  
Screw Snape's timeline. He had the charm worked out for tomorrow, but he could use it tonight. Where was Ginny Weasley? Where the FUCK was Ginevra fucking Weasley?!?!?  
  
Draco scanned around for her and damned himself for not having a magical eye like Mad-Eye Moody. The crowd outside was still thick with students, not even paying attention to him, most of them drunk beyond recognition.  
  
"Screw the game." Draco mumbled as he took a bottle of fire whiskey and emptied the whole thing within seconds. He tossed the glass down on the ground somewhere near Weasley's passed out body.  
  
He took a step forward, only to realize he had no idea what he was doing anymore. Fire whiskey. It had instant effects. He cursed himself and tried to keep his mind straight and alert.  
  
Weasley. Screw her! He'd grab the first witch he saw and fuck her that night. He could do his whole Weasley whatever it was he was doing with her tomorrow.  
  
"Draco?"  
  
"That's me name!" He said without thinking. He swung around quite clumsily to look at who was talking to him, "Lily Jerkins! What are you doing here? I thought I left you at my place with some other people my mum and dad invited!"  
  
"You're drunk. How can you be drunk after leaving your place just under an hour ago? No matter. I was taking my broom out for a ride when I heard music. Never seen this place before so I thought I'd see what was happening. Here we are!" She rambled, taking a look at what everyone here was wearing and transfiguring her clothes into a pink skirt with a long white belt that went down past her skirt and onto her knees, a plain white tank top, and she added an extra touch by taking down her dark straight hair and streaking it green magically.  
  
"Muggles have the right idea! You'd look even nicer if your top got wet I bet!" Draco yelled rather loudly causing a lot of guys to turn around and stare, willing something to happen while some drooled.  
  
"Say that again and I will stick my broom up your arse!" She said very loudly and venomously, taking her normal Firebolt and pointing it threatening as she stuck her wand in her hair, taking some hair from each end and making a small bun at the back of her head.  
  
"Aren't you cold though?" Draco asked her kicking the snow and realizing he wasn't cold with short sleeves.  
  
"They've cast a warming charm around their property you dolt. You step into the forest and you'd be freezing. You really are drunk."  
  
"I'm not that bad off. I'm just not that fast a thinker." He replied flashing her a smirk.  
  
"Never mind you, Draco. You're not completely out of it at least. Is that Ron Weasley?" She asked pointing at the ground.  
  
"Yeah. He passed out just after welcoming me and Blaise…" Draco trailed off pointing to the tree still outside of the forest where Blaise and Hermione were still at each other, Blaise's hand up Hermione's skirt.  
  
"Blaise and Hermione Granger?" She asked, not wanting to say Mudblood with so many people still watching her so hungrily.  
  
"You know her. That's right you know everyone. Yeah that's them. Long story. Doesn't matter now. I'm going to go look for… I remember who I'm looking for." Draco said leaving Lily alone to pursue his looking for Ginny Weasley.  
  
He sat down in fear of falling while he tried to remember a sobering up charm.  
  
"Gods, Ron! Enervate!" She yelled taking her wand after shrinking her broom and replacing it with her wand. The Weasley awoke and looked at her, fully sober.  
  
"Lily. What are you doing here?" He asked grasping his head.  
  
"Here." She said summoning a Hangover potion out of the house. She handed it to him and he drank gratefully, "I came to see where Draco had gotten off to."  
  
"Malfoy. You refused my Christmas invitation because you were at Malfoy's?" Ron asked in a quiet tone. Draco listened in immense interest.  
  
"It's not like that, Ron. You don't understand how it is with us, why we are the people we are. We don't have the opportunity you do." She said, her voice showing bitterness the way it had when she was in conversation with him back at his house.  
  
"Your family is in with the Dark Lord isn't it?" He asked so quiet that Draco had to strain.  
  
She grasped her shoulder and looked down at the ground, "I am sorry. I am tainted now, and I do not wish to taint you. I am where I belong with my family values and traditions. If it were different, I would not choose him, or this." She said with such honesty that Draco had to feel bad for her.  
  
"I've known you for so long, and I thought I loved you." Ron said quietly as he got up.  
  
He shouldn't be overhearing this. She did what she did with him because she had to. She did mean she was tainted. She was tainted from being in contact with him. How she knew Weasley, Draco didn't want to find out.  
  
"I am bleeding inside, Ron. I cannot show fear nor can I show pride. Zee road I have taken vill be my un-zoing." She said, trembling hard enough to get her Bulgarian accent back.  
  
Draco apparated back to his manner and straight into his bed.  
  
A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed! Thanks for all the reviews and I will get Hermione Draco action in. The two characters I introduced (one has my name and one ahs my friend's name) will play big roles for Draco's transformation. I am still playing with the idea of whethere I should have a happy ending or not. Muahaha


	10. Quidditch For Morons

A/N: Chapter finished July 2nd. I've been writing all day and all night basically since I've been sick. I'm spreading the chapters out unless I get the reviews because I'm getting better and my whole next week every day is booked for Six Flags to parties to hanging out with my friends! So anyway... I'll have chapters regularly anyway because I still have a lot of time to write over the summer. This chapter is the beginning of Draco's plotting.

IMPORANT!:ONCE AGAIN I HAVE FINISHED THE STORY SO IM POSTING TWO CHAPTERS TODAY!! THIS IS THE SECOND!! IF I GET AT LEAST FIVE REVIEWS FOR EACH CHAPTER ILL POST AGAIN TOMORROW!!!  
  
Chapter 10: Quidditch For Morons  
  
Waking up he threw the covers off himself. He was not in his night clothes. He was fully clothed. Draco panicked slightly before remembering what had happened.  
  
He stood up and looked through his window. The snow on the ground shone in the sunshine as a few idle clouds passed by lazily. Taking off his clothes, he stepped into his bathroom and turned on the water. The cold water awakened him. He let the beads of hydrogen and oxygen sweep over his body as he stood in the shower.  
  
After he was done with his shower, Draco decided he wasn't in the mood for robes. He took a look in his closet and took out cargo pants and a hoodie to put over his white sleeveless top. Putting on a pair of Dickies he had ordered from the States, his outfit was completed.  
  
He took his Quidditch equipment and walked downstairs and into the breakfast room. He saw breakfast on the table and his mother and father in deep conversation.  
  
"Good morning." Draco said as he pulled out a chair and took a seat on the opposite end of where his parents were sitting.  
  
"Good morning, Draco." His mother and father echoed as they stopped their conversation.  
  
"Lillith McConnell. What do you think of her?" Lucius asked. Even if his father's eyes had a brick wall behind them, Draco could tell from experience that normally when his father asked him something like this he had an ulterior motive.  
  
"Lily? I don't see her quite as much as I'd like to. She and I are friends, I suppose." Draco asked, a question lingering in his tone that caused his father to raise his eyebrow.  
  
"Shut off your emotions Draco." His father reprimanded him, "She is a Pureblooded witch of many generations and good family. Her father being a member of the Wizengamot and her mother a powerful name in the international Ministry, she is a witch that you should consider for marriage."  
  
"She's good looking, Draco, and she's smart. She's a Deatheater. She's also head of the Junior Deatheaters. You would have beautiful children I could be proud of." Narcissa added as she sipped her tea.  
  
Draco sat, frozen in his chair. After hearing what he did, knowing how strong her feelings were for Weasley, what was Draco supposed to say? He didn't even know she knew Weasley… How did she know Weasley?  
  
"I don't think so." He said as his parents' eyes bored into his head.  
  
"Who else do you think will be suitable?" His mother asked him harshly. Hermione Granger, he thought to himself before he could stop it. He kicked himself mentally, keeping his mind clear and his eyes cold.  
  
"I'm only seventeen. I've got plenty of time to see who I want to be with. When I do decide to marry someone, I will make the decision as to who will be 'suitable' enough to marry." Draco said rather harshly. His mother got out her wand, but Lucius grasped her shoulder and pushed her back down.  
  
"He is a man now. Consequences will be dealt with shortly, but for now we will let the tone slide." Lucius said to his wife and then turned to Draco, "You will lower your voice to your mother as she is still my wife. Draco you will follow our traditions…" Lucius said calmly gazing at his son contempt.  
  
"And if I choose not to follow your traditions?" Draco asked. He had never before defied his father when he was a child, yet, Draco could feel that he was no longer that fourteen year old boy who was beaten down for defying him.  
  
"You know what it means to be exiled, don't you Draco?" His father grasped his wand and before Draco could do anything a green flash of light came toward him and missed his head by a centimeter as it hit a common house fly. The fly dropped to the ground motionlessly, burned to a crisp.  
  
"You do not want your name stripped from you in that way, do you Draco?" His father asked him.  
  
"I have to get back to school. I still have to remind everyone of Quidditch practice tomorrow."  
  
"Goodbye Draco." His father said as Draco disapperated.  
  
"Alright men! We have our new brooms! We've been training for a while on our own! You know why we've been losing the cup to Gryffindor?" Draco asked rhetorically as the team started whispering to one another.  
  
"Because you can't catch the snitch as fast as Potter?" Questioned a third year who had made the team as a Chaser from pure skill.  
  
"You want to get off the team, you little insignificant brat?" Draco snapped, tossing his broom into his left hand and taking his wand out of his sleeve with his right.  
  
The Slytherins snapped their jaws shut and listened to Draco.  
  
"We haven't been playing as a team! We're just as good as the Gryffindors, if not better! Weasley has gotten up to mark! You know what that means? That means our chasers," Draco lingered on the word pointing his wand at the third year who had spoken, "are going to have to get up to mark too. Their chasers have gotten better! Zabini be prepared to get your reflexes in order by doing Seeker practice! You let one Quaffle by and I will hammer you with beater bats until you get it into your head that you can't let anything through!  
  
"Their strategies have gotten more advanced. No more reverse passing or pity Sloth Grip rolls! Blaise, I know you enough to know that you've already looked up and practiced defensive moves. I want you to come with me half an hour before every practice to practice just flying. I need you to get good with the Double Eight Loop and for that you need speed. Also try Starfish and Stick!  
  
"I want my beaters to be good with Harlem Halves and mainly the Doppleganger Defensive moves! Chasers will practice once a week at any given time with me present together outside of the team practices to get good at Hawkshead Formation, Parkin's Pincer, and Porskoff play as well as some other things I will introduce to you at that time. I want everyone familiar with the Woollongong Shimmy.  
  
"These tactics can be found in Quidditch Through the Ages! I want you to know the book as if you-know-who is asking you to answer the questions correctly or get the Cruciatus Curse put upon you! I also want you to be familiar with your broom! Tremaine, go get the balls! Do I have any questions for this year's Quidditch team?" Draco asked as everyone kept silent.  
  
Storm clouds had gathered, and soft rain was starting to fall instead of the snow that they were expecting. The sixth year returned with the chest and set it down.  
  
"We'll start out with some passing!" Draco said as he grasped a Quaffle with one hand and his broom with the other, "Mount your brooms! We have some guests." Draco said as the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team walked out onto the pitch in their school robes and took seats in their section, "Do not be distracted. If I see you not looking, you will be knocked off your broom! Up!"  
  
They flew up twenty some odd feet, keeping the perfect circle formation. Draco took the Quaffle and passed it with a quick toss of his hand to Holland Peterson who tossed it to Goyle. Goyle passed it to Blaise who back passed it to the youngest player on the Slytherin team, James Hackley. The young Slytherin dropped it.  
  
"Five laps. You have a minute a lap! Each second your late, you'll have to do another lap! You're time started thirty seconds ago!" Draco yelled as he flew down and caught the Quaffle just before it hit the ground.  
  
He passed the Quaffle to Tremaine. The passing continued until Hackley returned, fifteen seconds too late. Draco sent him on his way to do his laps while everyone else got in position.  
  
"I'll play reserve Chaser! I want beaters to put a Boomerang Charm on the Bludgers if you're capable enough. Get your bats." Draco ordered as he heard Ginny Weasley make a comment causing the Gryffindors to laugh. She could laugh all she wanted, but that night Draco would have her.  
  
"Is everyone bright enough to remember from the World Cup what a Porskoff Play is?" He asked the other two chasers who nodded quickly at him, "I take bottom right, Bukley, you take bottom left. Tremaine you take top. I'll start with the Quaffle, pass it to Bukley, who'll pass it to Tremaine. That's when we'll start the play. Pass it to me, I'll pass it back to you, you pass is to Bukley again who'll try and get past Blaise. You two will try and do all the work as I am not a chaser." Draco said very quickly, "When James finishes his laps, you three will discuss the hand signals you'll use to start a play as I can obviously not stand here and tell you how to do something."  
  
Draco took off, followed by the other two in no particular formation. Passing the Quaffle back quickly in that order Draco used a back pass and slapped the Quaffle to Jonathan Tremaine. He barely caught it from the surprise.  
  
"Stop!" He yelled, "You two need to be familiar with different bloody passes in a fast paced game!" The Gryffindors snickered. Blaise ignored him as did Draco but the younger Slytherins hissed, "Peterson! Did I or did I not tell you to keep hitting Bludgers? Start from the top!" He yelled.  
  
He passed to Tremaine who passed it back to him only for Draco to pass it to Henry Bukley. The sixth year was caught off guard causing him to drop the Quaffle.  
  
"Are you two daft? Bukley, take my post as Keeper. Tremaine, stand aside. Here's how real Slytherins who don't even play these positions outsmart Gryffindors." Blaise said loudly as he gave Draco three signs.  
  
They flew in speeds causing Potter to whisper hurriedly into Ron's ear. Draco passed the Quaffle to Blaise. Blaise flew up at Draco who was above him and passed his height. Draco flew down and passed around to the other side of the hoops. Blaise looked like he was about to pass, but he didn't. He stood on his broom and flipped off it in a free fall. A second later, Blaise was back on his broom and passed it to Draco who was veering near the left hoop. Draco leaned forward to get near the proper side of the hoops. Draco caught it quickly. Instead of risking missing, he passed it quickly to Blaise who stood on his broom and passed it back to Draco near the center hoop. Draco hung from his broom and flipped back onto it meanwhile kicking it clear into the hoops.  
  
Breathing hard, Draco landed on the ground. Blaise was right behind him with a hearty, "I could have caught it."  
  
Applause rang through the Slytherins.  
  
"Years of playing and practicing on my own. James, go talk with them about strategies. The rest of you! Practice is over! Hufflepuffs have the field tomorrow, Ravenclaws have it two days after that, and Gryffindors have it the day before New Years. I expect every single one of you ready to play QUIDDITCH and not toy brooms then!" Draco caught up to Blaise who was tracking through the mud that was formed on the field, "I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
Draco watched as the Gryffindor team walked down through the stands and onto the field, grim expressions on their faces. Ginny Weasley and Potter walked behind the rest, whispering hurriedly. Weasley said something causing Potter to nod and catch up with the other Weasley.  
  
"Ginny!" Draco yelled. As luck may have it, the others were through the door leaving who he really needed to speak with alone. Normal before dinner practice gave him a perfect chance to seduce her before he had to sleep with her in the common room. If he was even luckier, Blaise would have Hermione out until night fall.  
  
"What do you want, Malfoy, the score of tomorrow's game? Gryffindor over 150, Slytherin under 150." Ginny said curtly as she tightened her cloak around her and kept walking.  
  
"Quidditch practice is over, Weasley. I'm playing with dolts, and you know it!" Draco said harshly, yet, truthfully, "Here come with me into the locker rooms. It's not raining in there. I need to talk to you, but I don't want you to freeze to death."  
  
"What do you want?" She repeated strongly, not moving an inch.  
  
"To talk." He said again as he grasped her shoulder and led her the few meters into the locker rooms.  
  
"Do me a favor though, Malfoy. Go and shower while you're at it. You have to be sweaty after that move you and Zabini pulled." Draco nodded and took off his Quidditch gear and put it on the bench next to Weasley. Draco went into the bathroom area where just one inch of sliding over was the separation between Ginny seeing Draco undress. He took off his robes and threw them back where Ginny was. Draco got into the shower and turned the water on.  
  
"That move out there was improvisation, and that's what I was trying to teach the younger players. They were surprised or distracted whenever I did something with them that was different. Doing moves like that is just for fun for Blaise and me. I'm not a Chaser. I was being spotchy with the Quaffle." Draco said taking some of the shampoo that was in there and rubbing it through his hair.  
  
"You did really well for being a Seeker. I have to say that you could play their position more than they could play yours. It was a bit obvious that you were faking with the Quaffle. From seeing you play, I could tell you wanted to score. My brother was telling me the whole time how you were planning on going for what hoop, and how you were probably going to do it. He didn't expect you to start flipping on your broom. I honestly think he could have caught it."  
  
"Was it that obvious that I was trying to impress the Gryffindor team?" Draco laughed despite himself as he took a bar of soap and washed.  
  
"More than you would ever know." Ginny said laughing rather loudly.  
  
"I don't know if you saw from your point but I missed my first kick so I had to flip in order to make it look like I didn't miss." Draco admitted as he rinsed his hair and lathered it up again.  
  
"So that's why you flipped. That's something I have to tell our team."  
  
"I figured, but I couldn't resist sharing. As long as you don't tell my little teammates I'm fine." Draco said as he rinsed out his hair, "Hey, Ginny, pass me my towel. It's green and it's got D M engraved in a corner."  
  
He saw her get up and look through different towels in the Slytherin room in the locker room. He caught the towel as she tossed it to him without looking.  
  
"Seduction starting with a towel." Draco mumbled to himself as he smirked and quickly wiped his face clear.  
  
Draco walked out to Weasley, dripping wet with a towel rather low on his waste showing his muscles on his stomach. Weasley stared, looking at his arms and chest, all muscular. She blushed and looked away when she saw a small trail of hair from his navel down beyond the towel.  
  
"Smart plan me taking a shower, huh? I was planning on going to my common room and changing. I don't have a spare set of robes." Draco said, knowing fully well that he had a set of robes in his locker.  
  
"Oh gods. Erm… Here I'll take you to your common room. We'll keep alert, and in the meantime cast a disillusionment charm on yourself. The corridors will be full of student since dinner will start in about five minutes." She said as Draco cast the charm on himself and shrunk his possessions down and handed them to her saying, "This is new equipment and a new broom. I'm not about to leave it in here and my broom in the broom shed."  
  
She reached out for him and accidentally grabbed onto his chest. She blushed and mumbled an apology. He smirked to himself as he followed her out of the locker room and into the rain. She jogged for the school with Draco behind her and made her way for their common room, avoiding people.  
  
This was perfect. There was a passage right outside the school that led straight to his common room's corridor. Too bad Weasley would never know that because she was too busy leading him to his common room.  
  
He held onto his towel, completely soaked from the water that was still pouring from him. Today, Weasley would be charmed by his good looks or just be charmed. Whatever it took, Malfoys didn't lose bets.  
  
A/N: I was literally drooling when I wrote the end of this chapter and the beginning and middle of chapter eleven because I was picturing Tom Felton shirtless, dripping wet. Anyway...Draco's gonna fall bad for Hermione. I have lots of ideas for ending and I want you all to review and tell me if you want a happy ending or a realistic ending!  
  
BE PREPARED TO SEE MORE OF LILY AND MARIJANA (hehhee yes that's my name i couldnt resist throwing me in!!)


	11. Plagued

A/N: Sorry for the shortness. It needed to end there. Next chapter is the ball. Finished July 3rd. Cheers  
  
Chapter 11: Plagued  
  
Draco stood still a bit, making sure Granger was nowhere in sight before taking his wand hand and pointing it at his torso saying, "Finite Incantatem!" clearly and loudly. Now it was time for Draco to put on his charm and act like a Gryffindor: unintelligent and naïve.  
  
"So… Thanks for helping me get out a tight spot there, even if it was your fault I got into it in the first place." Draco said playfully, winking at her.  
  
"Yes, sorry about that. I figured everyone had spare robes in their lockers, but I have to say I've been too tired to go changes so I'd trample into the Great Hall for dinner after practice. The only time I'd change in the locker room was after a rainy game…" She trailed off looking as he ran his hands through his dripping blonde curls, "I should get going to dinner."  
  
"Stay here a bit. I'll get us some food from a mini-fridge I placed in my room. I charmed it to when you open it you get exactly what you want. You can go into my room and get us some dinner while I go change." Draco said, plastering on a smile that wasn't completely fake since it was just a step away from a smirk he wanted to have on his face.  
  
He led her into his room, leaving the door open. He walked into his closet and leaned on the door, leaving it slightly open. He heard Weasley turn away uncomfortably and linger around the small refrigerator, thinking about what to have.  
  
Draco smirked as he went into the middle of the closet and looked at the right side. He grasped a pair of silk boxers that had a dark green forest color. He let the towel drop. He stepped into the boxers. He looked around and saw what he was looking for: a pair of long flannel pants that had a drawstring. He put on his pajamas and let them hang down even lower than his boxers (which were low enough so you could almost see the patch of hair that was starting).  
  
He walked back out of the closet and saw that Weasley was no longer in there. He frowned but walked into the common room to see that their coffee table was set with the food. He closed the door behind him causing Weasley to look up and gasp, then turn away with her cheeks burning the color of her hair.  
  
"Where's your-" Draco had to keep from smirking or downright laughing at her when her voice squeaked. She turned away from him again and coughed before continuing, "shirt?"  
  
"I'm eating dinner in my common room with no else but you and me. I'm probably going to go back to my room and go to sleep after this. Why bother changing?" He asked, challenging her to come up with enough coherent thought to answer.  
  
"I suppose there isn't," Ginny looked very uncomfortably at him. "Why am I here, Malfoy? I know you've been talking trash about my family even if Dad is Minister now. I know you've been insulting my brothers like you always do. Even if you haven't said anything particularly nasty to me for a good five years, that doesn't mean you like me in the slightest. You lie about everything. Tell me the truth. Why am I here?"  
  
'You're a Malfoy. Think about this and come up with a logical answer to her damn Gryffindor questions! I could say I've liked for a bit now, and my family would approve her since she's pureblooded. Damn you. She would take offense to that. I could say that I wanted to get information about Granger because I really have strong feelings for her. I can make up horse waddle about her being with Blaise. I could cry! Comfort and their moral conscience will be this Gryffindor's fall down. After this is over, not only will Granger's live be ruined but so will all the Weasley's.'   
  
"I… Erm… I guess…" He had to refrain from laughing as he uncharacteristically stumbled through phrases, "You see… Forget it. Leave."  
  
He was hoping she wouldn't be as vile and inhuman as her brothers were known to be and not just leave. He saw her face soften just like he planned for it to. Good Gods this was easy!  
  
"Even inhuman bastards like you have to have some feelings. Tell me." She insisted with laughter in her voice and a smile on her face.  
  
"You're aware of this kind of relationship Blaise has developed with Hermione." He wanted to spit. He wanted to spit at himself for saying her name. He wanted to kill himself because of the way her name just rolled off his tongue as if he'd been saying it to himself late at night, "I wanted to know about her. I mean… I know about her, and that's why I wanted to know more about her. You see… Erm… I guess knowing her without a row and seeing the kind of person she is and the kind of person she's molded me to be… I guess I just… I dunno I just fell… I fell into the abyss of the ocean never to return while a new person became. I fell in love with Hermione Granger."  
  
He heard an intake of breath from Ginny Weasley along with a sigh of appreciation. She thought he was quote unquote 'sweet' now. All he needed was to bring on the wailing and the comfort would begin.  
  
"Oh Malfoy." She said with a quiver in her voice, "I never knew." He had to physically restrain himself this time by putting his face in his hands to keep himself from laughing. The move had more than one effect. She reached over and grasped on for contact.  
  
Draco muttered a wandless charm to make his eyes seem red and let tears run down. The charm would last for a good five minutes or so before he would have to reapply it.   
  
"I don't know how it began. I've been trying to deny it, but I just snapped at Christmas. I couldn't stand to not see her." Draco admitted falsely.  
  
"That's why you come to Mum and Dad's Christmas party. That is so sweet." She cooed to him as she rubbed the muscles on his arms.  
  
"How is she doing?" He asked, truly interested this time. This was definitely information he could use to strengthen the charm he would place wandlessly on her.  
  
For the charm to take full effect it would have to be placed with a wand in hand, but since it was impossible with this scenario, he would have to use any bit of information and play on her lusts and thoughts to place the temporary charm. The charm would magnify feelings. The strongest feeling at the moment of placement would be the one to be magnified.  
  
Draco was playing off jealousy. He knew she would come in and see him screwing Weasley inside out and would be jealous. He would cast the charm wordlessly on her. She would be consumed in the emotion until she somehow satisfied it. For a thirteen year old this would mean maybe a touch or a kiss. For her, since he assumed she was still a virgin, the sexual tension would be too great and she would have to satisfy it. Her senses would still be heightened at that point.  
  
If she had enough feelings for Draco, she would not notice the charm. If she didn't and she wanted to be with Blaise, she would feel ashamed and leave. Whatever happened after Draco's string turned gold, he didn't care. She could cry. She could lust after him. It wasn't Draco's problem. He was just bent on destroying her.  
  
Then a thought hit him: What if Blaise had truly come to care for the Mudblood? Draco would be upset if his friend had his feelings hurt as he was much more emotional than himself as he had a softer environment.  
  
That's what this was about thought wasn't it? He would realize that if the Mudblood cared for him then she wouldn't have slept with Draco. He would get over her. What would happen if it tore their friendship apart in the process?  
  
There was one thing Draco valued in life more than his riches. He valued his best mate and equal. He valued Blaise more than anything. He had come to realize that you need one person who you can talk to that will straighten out your thoughts and emotions.  
  
What would come out of this bet? Fights and conflict in general. He hadn't been studying for his N.E.W.Ts as he should have been doing as Head Boy. He would rather die than lose his best friend. He hoped it wouldn't come to that.  
  
"She's happy with Blaise. She talks about him quite a bit. Well, she used to talk about him a lot. Since that thing with you and Harry she hasn't been herself. She always mopes. What did happen with you and Harry?" She asked curiously.  
  
"It doesn't matter. She should be happy. She deserves to be happy…without me." He said reapplying the charm silently.  
  
"Aww, Malfoy, it'll be alright. You're good looking enough. You'll find someone." She said awkwardly, still not looking at him.  
  
"I'm an asshole. You know that, and I know that. Who would want me?" He asked, making sure to make it sound realistic. She was falling for every word he said.  
  
"You have no idea, Draco." She said, testing out his first name. He bit hit tongue to keep self control. It was hard to smirk in agreement when you were biting your tongue, "Girls lust you from all years and all houses." She said truthfully. Draco was no longer the skinny brat he was all those years ago.  
  
"I don't want someone like Padma Patil. I want someone I can talk to." He said counting down from ten. Right on cue she touched his hand.  
  
"Talk to me. If you need a friend, I'll be here. Just don't tell my brother." She said smirking herself as Draco smirked but for a different reason.  
  
"Thanks." He said leaning over and hugging her, casually letting her fall on the sofa with Draco on top.  
  
He placed one chaste kiss on her cheek and lingered seemingly innocent as he moved and caught the corner of her mouth. Not being able to resist, she caught his mouth. Draco smirked into her mouth, but Ginny was too caught up in the moment to notice.  
  
He probed her mouth with his tongue, exploring her mouth. She moaned as Draco ground himself into her, the thin layers of clothing between them receiving none of the friction.  
  
He moved his mouth to her jaw as he traced a trail of kisses down to her neck. She groaned loudly as he hit a sensitive spot. Draco found himself withdrawing his tongue as he kissed her dutifully. She tasted like skin, not like Hermione whose taste could drive him mad within seconds. Hermione's skin was soft and silky. He could drive his hands in her bushy brown hair and get lost in her eyes that expressed all her emotions. Thoughts of Hermione caused Draco to harden.  
  
He saw her look of horror that night when she entered the common room. She drew herself up to full height. Draco cast the charm second naturedly. She cried and ran out the common room.  
  
Weasley put on her clothes half-hazardly and ran after her friend. Draco returned to his room that night and collapsed onto his bed. His body ached. It didn't ache from the act he had performed so many times before. His body ached because he had seen the look of hurt in Granger's eyes. It hurt him to know that he cared so much. He did care. He just didn't know it yet. Visions of her eyes plagued his thoughts and dreams as he went to sleep that night. 


	12. New Year's Balls Resolutions

A/N: Finished it July fifth. I don't like the beginning of this chapter but the end is awesome. I loved writing the end of this chapter. I dedicate this chapter to Blink 182 and here I go making a necessary disclaimer..  
  
Disclaimer: As I have said before I do not own any Harry Potter items, characters or any blah blah blah you recognize. Now I'm here to say that I do not own any of Blink 182's songs including All Of This or any other songs I may use in this story including songs from the following albums: Enema of the State, No Pants No Jackets Just Balls, and Blink 182.  
  
Chapter 12: New Year's Ball Resolutions  
  
The smell of musty old books enveloped Draco in a world he had so long ago come to love. The years of knowledge that were painfully poured into each book riddled with facts and opinion and theories and sweat had come to mesmerize him sometime in his sixth year. He couldn't find a coherent thought as to why anyone would put off being in this place of knowledge except for stupidity that the library repented.  
  
He grasped the title he was searching for along with several other advanced Transfiguration books. Sitting where he had placed his book bag, Draco ruffled through it to find his quill and a bottle of ink. The end of the feather touched Draco's cheek as he dipped it causing him to giggle quietly. This would be his downfall one day when someone caught him doing this. Bad habits of leaning forward and getting tickled by the quill was something Draco had always done.  
  
He sat up straight and opened the book while he dipped his quill out of the ink. He read the text and began to take notes. He had been at it for a good two hours before he got fully distracted at feeling eyes on the back of his head. He looked up at the window and saw no one in the reflection.  
  
Draco had been trained his whole life to know when someone was watching him. He wasn't paranoid like Moody because frankly, who would try and kill him? He was deemed 'dangerous' because of his father's status. He knew someone was watching him. Well, whoever it was, they were obviously trying to not make him notice.  
  
Draco shrugged and got back to work. He had gotten back on his study schedule. He had memorized everything from his first through fifth years before his O.W.Ls. He had gone over his notes the first semester. Now he was going over his actual N.E.W.T lessons. Transfiguration was his weakest.  
  
He felt eyes boring into his back again. He grasped his wand in his robe sleeve and counted to three before spinning around to look behind him. Standing there was none other than Hermione Granger. The charm had to be working. He walked over to her leaving all his books and notes on the table.  
  
"Hermione. I've been meaning to talk to you, but you've been ignoring me." He said trying to keep a bored sound from escaping his lips with each word.  
  
"Why do you think I've been ignoring you? You almost killed my best friend who means more to me on this planet than anyone else. Then, instead of trying to make it up to me, you go and shag my best female friend. That's pretty pathetic, even for you." She spat out in a hushed, hurried whisper.  
  
"And Potter got his revenge didn't he with that last dual we had? And about Weasley. Go talk to her about what happened. If you won't let me explain, let her explain because you've never had a row and you trust her. I can see it in your eyes." Draco said boring into her soul again with his eyes. Lust and betrayal plagued her thoughts.  
  
"I haven't been talking to her." Hermione said stubbornly.  
  
"Oh may you be damned, Granger. You've been standing here watching me, but you haven't gone and talked to her."  
  
"I have done no such thing. I shall be going now, you arse. The ball is in less than five hours and I need to get ready for Blaise." She said with an air of ignorance as she walked out of the library. Draco shrugged and gathered his parchment, quill, ink, and books he would check out. He walked to Madam Pince who promptly wrote waved her wand around the books and around a catalog.  
  
Draco walked out of the library with his books in hand and hurriedly walked to his common room. When he entered he saw Granger's door open without her in there. She must have gone to the Gryffindor dormitory to get ready. Draco shrugged off his books at his desk in the common room.  
  
Pacing around the common room for a good five minutes, Draco sprinted out of the portrait and down to the Great Hall. He walked in quickly to see teachers working on the decorations he and Hermione had planned out. He saw a giant clock flashing over everyone's head.  
  
"May we help you, Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked him with his damned twinkling eyes behind his half moon spectacles.  
  
"I just wanted to see how it was going." Draco admitted as the light in his eyes quickly went out to show his normal stone eyes.  
  
"Yes. It is going quite well. We need something to get the students' minds off the war. I do have something I wanted to ask you." Dumbledore said as Draco got a serious expression on his face and turned toward the Headmaster, "I would like to help you welcome in two new students. They have been sorted personally and have both been put into Slytherin house. These two students have special circumstances for being here as you no doubt know. They will be under my protection as they have risked quite a bit to be here. They will be in attendance at the ball. Can I count on you?"  
  
"Yes sir." Draco said seriously. Marijana and who? The only other person he knew would be Lily, but she said she would help Voldemort.  
  
Draco ran with all his might to the Slytherin common room, passing students who backed out of his way. Draco couldn't remember the last time he full out ran. If Lily was there, he had to talk to her.  
  
He hit the portrait out of breath and huffed out, "New Year's Resolutions." before going into the common room to see it full of girls who ran into the girls staircase to start getting ready.  
  
He ignored them and yelled out, "LILY!!!!!! LILY!" He screamed out causing many people to come downstairs and see what his issue was. "Go get ready or go outside." He ordered as some went back upstairs but some just stood idly around.  
  
He saw her walk down with a cold expression on her face. He saw some Slytherin guys turn and start to stare. She looked coldly at them causing them to scuttle away.  
  
Draco bit his lip and sped to hug her. He took her in his arms and squeezed the air out of her before letting go, "I thought you weren't-"  
  
She had cut him off with a wave of his hand, "What would you do for Blaise?"  
  
"Anything."  
  
"What would I do for my best friend? Anything. I shall change my ways, however corny that sounds."  
  
"Do you have anyone to go to the ball with?" Draco asked her seriously, "Would you like to be accompanied by moi?" Draco asked with a smirk on his face. To his surprise she frowned but nodded, "And Marijana?" Draco asked.  
  
"We've been here since yesterday. She got asked by Seamus Finnigan of Gryffindor." She said still frowning.  
  
"How do you know Seamus Finnigan?" He asked curiously. She raised an eyebrow and smirked, "Never mind then. And you didn't get asked by anyone?"  
  
"I never said that. The one person I wanted to go with isn't even speaking with me." She mumbled.  
  
"I've wanted to ask you about that night at the Weasley's. I overheard you and Weasley." He looked down, truly ashamed. She opened her mouth and shut it again looking at him in disgust.  
  
Her mouth then opened again as her face softened, "It's alright. I guess I should have expected for you to find out. And I suppose you're curious about that, huh?" She asked him as he nodded, "Look, I have to get ready. Since I'm being 'accompanied' by you, I'll tell you tonight. Cheers Draco." She said as she jogged up to the girls' dormitories.  
  
Draco groaned as he walked out of the portrait and into the corridor. He saw a statue of a centaur. He mumbled something and the statue swung open. Draco walked along the passage for a short distance before he pushed in a stone and it opened to reveal the outside. He saw several people outside fighting with snowballs. He spotted Blaise and jogged over to him.  
  
"The person you've been wanting to see is here." Draco said causing Blaise to throw a snowball at him.  
  
"Who have I been wanting to see?" Blaise asked him as he ducked from a snowball that Justin Finch-Fletchy threw.  
  
"You'll find out at the ball tonight if you don't know." Draco whispered as he took some snow in his hands and molded it into a ball and throwing it at Terry Boot.  
  
"You playing then, Malfoy?" Terry asked him as he dodged the snowball.  
  
"Sure." Draco answered as he took a snowball and hit it at a turned Harry Potter. He laughed a bit evilly before he was hit in the face with a snowball Potter had thrown back.  
  
Taking a look at himself in the mirror one last time, Draco stepped out of his bathroom. The ball's theme would be different from what they originally planned. The bands they had set would be a bit hard to dance to in dress robes. The dress would be casual.  
  
Draco was wearing orange shorts with his boxers slightly above his pants, a white under top with a button up shirt unbuttoned over it, and a necklace. He had charmed his white hair partly green.  
  
Draco idly ran his hand through his hair as he walked out the portrait hole and made his way to the Slytherin common room. He saw people walking out and bustling inside the common room.  
  
When he saw her, he should have been amazed. She was wearing a pink tube top with strings hanging off the sides and a tiered black mini skirt. He smirked out of obligation as he formed his arm into a V shape along them to hook arms. They walked silently to the Great Hall.  
  
He led her to the front where he saw Blaise standing with Hermione. He had to hold his breath so he wouldn't moan. She abandoned her bushy hair and baggy robes for tonight like she had in her fourth year. She had on a ruffled brown/yellow/red skirt that had its longest part hang at her ankles and a off the shoulder tank top.  
  
"Screw your eyeballs back in, Draco." Lily said with a smirk on her face as Draco turned to face her lazily.  
  
He waited for a few seconds just facing her before he saw the Great Hall open its double doors to unveil a sight identical to the Yule Ball. He grasped back onto her and led her inside and pulled out a seat for Lily to sit at. She thanked him and he took a seat. He was not the first person to sit as the Professors were already seated. He cursed his Head Boy status for the first time as he was forced to sit at this table.  
  
He saw Blaise pull out a seat for Hermione by McGonagall. She smiled at him and sat while Blaise sat beside her. Blaise flashed Draco a quick smirk before returning to keep Hermione in conversation.  
  
"Stop staring at him." Draco whispered to Lily who was looking at a table with Potter, Weasley, Weasley, Finnigan, Brown, Patil, Marijana, and Thomas. She returned to Draco and raised an eyebrow, "Tell me."  
  
She opened her mouth and closed it just as quick when Dumbledore started speaking, "Welcome everyone to the first annual New Year's Ball! Dinner will be served and then the ball will begin. There is a time to make a speech and I will make it… at the beginning of next year. Tuck in!"  
  
Draco rolled his eyes at Dumbledore and opened his menu. He ordered whatever appeared first on the list and ate as quickly as he could keeping in mind his manners.  
  
"Tell me." Draco insisted when his date finished her desert.  
  
She looked like she had aged a year as she took a breath in and blew it back out, "You do remember after second year how my family had asked me where I wanted to go for summer, do you not?" He nodded, "Well, I had never seen an actual pyramid so I said to father 'Can we go to Egypt' and he nodded. Do you remember in your Daily Prophet how your Ministry had a raffle? Do you remember who won?"  
  
"Arthur Weasley… He went to Egypt. Go on." Draco said as things clicked.  
  
"That is when I met Ron, as I know you figured out. We clicked. Isn't that what Londoners say? We owled to one another and built a friendship." She trailed off and stood up, pushing her chair in. Draco looked confused but noticed that Dumbledore was ushering out fourth years and under. The other Professors were transfiguring the tables to benches and pushing them to the side leaving a big table in the corner for drinks and snacks.  
  
"Blaise, Granger, you and I have the first dance." Draco said as the doors swung open and Blink 182 walked in with all their glory. He watched as people totally erupted in joy while some of the younger girls started crying. Draco smirked as Lily's eyes lit up.  
  
"May I have this dance?" He asked as the band took their position in the front of the Great Hall with their instruments.  
  
"How are you guys doin' tonight?" Asked Travis in his American accent. Applause echoed through the Great Hall, "We're here because your Headmaster and us go way back to when we were just young wizards at Salem Wizarding Academy. Let's get the Head Boy and Girl out here with their dates for the first slow song." He said as they started a slow tune.  
  
Draco had Lily in the center of the dance floor and put one hand on her waist and took the his other hand and took her small hand in his while he saw Blaise do the same with Hermione.  
  
He slowly led her in circled while the guys from Blink played All of This. He watched as people slowly joined in. He let go over her hand and put both his hands on her waist and whispered into her ear, "Finish."  
  
"When in fourth year, Ronald started to talk of this Granger girl. I became jealous but laid low and kept my calm. He was jealous of Viktor Krum's position. Viktor had started to really care for the girl in fifth year when I decided to get involved. Viktor broke it off with Mudblood.  
  
"Granger was heartbroken. Ron made his move to be with her. I didn't care, Draco. You see, I had come to care for him as much as I cared for my best of friends. He couldn't be with me. I had already become a Deatheater in my sixth year as you know. Only heartbreak would come for him with me. If he could be happy with this Granger girl, then let him be happy.  
  
"He talked of nothing but his growing relationship with Hermione for a good portion of his sixth year. Then about Christmas I saw him. I couldn't help myself. I had gotten my apparition license so I came to Hogsmeade. I saw him and I broke him off from everyone so he would talk to me.  
  
"He told me of Granger being depressed. He told me of her putting her friendship with Harry Potter first over her ongoing relationship with him. He was jealous as I had been. She had broken it off with him when she saw how unfairly she was treating him.  
  
"I talked with him well into the night. I had confessed him my feelings, Draco. I was expecting the worst when he leaned over to kiss me. You know what happened from there. I had never felt so right being in his arms. He was my first. I was his.  
  
"He saw my Dark Mark. He felt like he had betrayed his friends and he was full of regret. I felt so bad. He regretted me. I left him then." Draco let go of her and took her hand to lead her outside of the Great Hall and to the lit up outside. He took her to the Great Lake. She hugged him and cried.  
  
"It'll be alright. Come on, Lils, it'll be fine." He rubbed her back and let her cry.  
  
"He wrote me letters to apologize. He said he was sorry for hurting me and hurting himself. He flood to my own common room in Durmstrang one day. How he found where Durmstrang was, I had no idea. I told him about everything I had been feeling and about how I became a Deatheater.  
  
"I loved him. If he fell in love with me, I don't know. I broke off contact with him for a bit. When he invited me to his Christmas dinner, I didn't answer the owl. When I saw him, all my feelings came back. He said he had loved me. It's too late now." She said as she cast a spell on her eyes to make the puffiness go away.  
  
"I'll help you get back Weasley if it's the last thing I do." Draco promised as he led her back inside to the ball.  
  
A/N: Next part is prolly gonna be Draco starting the plot and he's falling hard. I think I'm going to have a happy ending 45% but 55% is a bit of a happy ending for Hermione, Ron, Harry, Lily and but Draco has a bad ending. Maybe death? Let me know what you think of that. Cheers- Marijana 


	13. Other Lives Are Ruined

A/N: Finished July 6th. Geeze I've been putting a lot of time into this story. While I think this may be the second to last chapter before an epilogue I might have this be the second to last chapter and have a sequel. This chapter has one happy ending for now, but it's not a happy ending for Draco... Anyway  
  
Chapter 13: One Happy Ending Before Other Lives Are Ruined  
  
Draco left Lily to dance with a Ravenclaw who asked her to after telling her, "Meet me outside by the lake five minutes before midnight." She nodded and went off with the guy to dance.  
  
Draco found Hermione dancing with Blaise and ushered him away as he broke in, "Go away, Malfoy." She said as she started up dancing with Blaise again.  
  
"Listen, I really need to talk to you." He said as Blaise smirked at him and lifted an eyebrow and pointed an arm to Hermione, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry for doing what I did to Potter. I'm sorry for hurting you the way I did with your friend."  
  
"She talked to me about it. And, Harry's over the dual so I should be too. I wouldn't mind having a friendship with you again. You and I were so close and… I guess I missed you." She said as Draco smiled. May Merlin damn him. She had changed him.  
  
He wasn't who he was. He had stood up to his father. He had developed a conscience. He felt bad for attacking Potter with such a dirty curse because he was jealous. He had friendships with the most unlikely people. He didn't want to become a Deatheater. He didn't want to be a Malfoy. He wasn't a Malfoy! He didn't care about blood. Granger had the same blood coursing through her veins that Draco had coursing through his. With a guilty conscience, Draco mumbled the counter curse. If Blaise had truly come to care for her, then let him be happy.  
  
"I… Oh damn, Granger. I need to take care of someone I care for." Draco said as Granger's eyes changed and she looked identical to the way she had before. She cared for him.  
  
Draco shook his head and found Weasley sitting with Potter, their dates dancing with someone else. Evidently, they were either tired or had hated dancing the way they had back in their fourth year.  
  
He didn't care either way. Flopping down on the bench next to them, they looked at him questioningly. He sighed loudly, "Look I have to talk to you later on Potter, but I have some other things I have to do. Weasley, I need you to do something for me because I want to make things right. I want you to meet someone by the lake in fifteen minutes, so that's five minutes before midnight."  
  
"What is your motive, Malfoy?" Ron asked him raising an eyebrow.  
  
"My motive? Why does a Slytherin always have to have a motive?" Draco asked smirking, but Ron didn't move from the spot, "My motive? Redemption." He said standing up and not looking back knowing he had said all he needed to say.  
  
He had to walk through a thick crowd and past Blink 182 who was playing What's My Age Again. He turned and growled under his breath as he gazed at the top of people's heads to look for his friend. He saw him by the drinks so Draco walked to catch him there.  
  
"Look man, we need to talk. Come with me." Draco said as he ripped Blaise from the Great Hall and into a corridor on the way to Transfiguration. He took the familiar route on the way to the room where the contract was.  
  
He looked at the contract and looked at the strings. He took out his wand and blasted the contract apart.  
  
"I'll give you the gold tomorrow if you want. I give." Draco said with a confident smirk on his face.  
  
"Look, Draco, come with me." Blaise said as he tapped stones in to reveal a passage Draco didn't know of. He followed his friend up two staircases and came through to a balcony that faced the lake.  
  
Blaise jumped off the balcony and onto a ledge that was visible from the lake. He sat on the ledge, his legs dangling one slip away from a prolonged death. He waved his arm at Draco to follow. He slid off the balcony a little safer than Blaise had and sat down on a ledge. How many times they had done something that was dangerous, Draco didn't know and didn't care. All he knew was what happened back when he was nine, the summer before Hogwarts.  
  
"Draco, be careful! Mummy said that we shouldn't be climbing up to the third floor!" Said a young boy with medium length brown hair and deep blue eyes. A blonde boy with dark gray eyes stuck his tongue out and began to climb on the stones that were sticking out slightly to a ledge on the third floor.  
  
"Are you a Puffskein or are you a wizard?" Called the blonde boy in a high pitched voice while the dark haired boy stomped down on the ground below him.  
  
"I'm a wizard! Mummy said-" The dark haired boy was cut off by the boy on the ledge, "Mummy said boo hoo! My mum lets me climb to the top of my mansion if I want!"  
  
"Does your mum know that you climb to the top? I bet she wouldn't like it. Besides, what do I tell your mum and dad if you fall? I have my wand, but I haven't looked through the spell books!"  
  
"I won't fall. You're just a big, fat Hufflepuff! Even a Gryffindor would climb the ledge!" A young Draco proclaimed.  
  
"I am not! Dad said I'll make Slytherin!"  
  
"Then come up here and prove it, or are you a Hufflepuff?"  
  
"Fine!" Blaise said as he climbed up to where Draco was in no time at all, "Told you I wasn't scared."  
  
"Look!" Draco said as they watched in amazement as a unicorn came out of the woods next to Blaise's mansion. A golden foal came out after it.  
  
They watched as the blinding white unicorn licked its foal's mane and walked over to the lake Blaise had on his property. The adult unicorn let out a long wail as it leaned over and took a sip. The foal walked away from its mother and came close to them sitting just a few feet above him. The mother wailed out again and the foal ran back to her and they disappeared into the forest.  
  
"What are you thinking about?" Blaise asked Draco as he swung his legs back and forth.  
  
"Remember the first time I made you climb a ledge?" Draco asked him rhetorically as he looked at the moon.  
  
"How can I not? First time in my life I'd seen something as beautiful a unicorn." Blaise said as he looked at the moon, "I wanted to ask you how you feel about Hermione."  
  
"It took me far too long to figure out that I didn't care about blood. I want to be her friend. The real question is how do you feel about her." Draco said as he faced his friend.  
  
"Tell me the truth, Draco. I can tell you're lying." Blaise insisted as he nudged Draco with a grim frown on his face.  
  
"It doesn't matter how I feel! I'm asking you. I'm telling you that I give you my blessings to be with her." He said quietly.  
  
"I don't love her. You love her, though, don't you? Don't you see why I wanted you in the bet in the first place? Draco, she's you! She's you in a female form! I'm not talking about the whole Muggleborn/Pureblood thing. I'm talking about the real you! I'm talking about your arguments, your skills, your brains! You and she get along! By Merlin, I wanted you to see the light. As cheesy as that sounds, it's the truth. You and her are meant to be! Do you love her?" Blaise exclaimed.  
  
"I don't know."  
  
"Yes, you do!" Blaise yelled out, "You LOVE her! I know you, Draco. You are in love with that girl!"  
  
"No, I don't." Draco said as he jumped onto the balcony.  
  
"Are you kidding me? I put everything on the line to set you up! You seriously don't love her?" Blaise asked him with his eyes blinking and sweat forming on his face. Draco turned around one last time before going down the corridor, out of the room, and outside.  
  
Draco stood in the shadows as he watched at the rumble that was going on inside and outside. He could see a giant clock hanging above him even outside. With five minutes until midnight, Draco watched Lily stand there against the tree and watching the lake.  
  
The night had not a single white flake of snow in the appealing clouds that seemed to be sleeping in the contrasting black night sky. The stars lit up with a smile forming and preparing themselves for a new year they would be alive. Moonlight streamed from the sky onto the partly solid lake giving it a look of crystals under a magnifying glass.  
  
He watched Lily stare at the sky hoping that some kind of answers would appear for her questions. After a minute he saw Weasley walk out of the shadows and up to Lily.  
  
"Lily. I saw you tonight. What are you doing here?" Ron asked as he touched her left shoulder and smeared away the potion she had used to mask her dark mark. He frowned looking at it then looking into her eyes.  
  
"I am here because I do not wish for my best friend to be killed by the Deatheaters that I am in the ranks with and because I am trying to force someone who I love as a brother to see something that I did not see when I joined Voldemort."  
  
"Does that mean you're on our side now?" He asked as she nodded, "And how am I going to be able to trust you when I fell in love before you told me of what you were?" Ron asked angrily.  
  
She rubbed all of the masking potion off of her skin and the Dark Mark lay in a dull color. She stared up at his defiantly yet spoke in a soft voice, "You know what I am. You know who I am. This scar on my skin is a mistake I made when I was in rage at your blowing me off for Hermione Granger who I told you repeatedly was wrong for you! Did you believe me, Ronald? No. You didn't for a second think that I was right. I forced myself to believe otherwise, and I made you happy and broke her up with Viktor Krum. Then what happens? Then when you get shut down you come crying to me like I am some sort of second rate witch. I was there for you! I am tired of being second, Ronald!" She bellowed.  
  
"So, you're saying it's me that made you a Deatheater? Bloody hell! If you had told me from the beginning what you tell me only today, tonight, then maybe I would have given you a shot! Instead you join the Deatheaters? Did you think that would make me come back to you? My best mate's enemy's militia?"  
  
"No! I am saying that while your problems consisted of trying to get a girl to notice you, I was trying to figure out ways to escape my destiny, my fate, the beliefs that I had been raised with. You only coming to me when you had issues was the last straw. I was tired of pushing. I was tired of waiting. I was tired of fighting, and I gave in."  
  
"I'm sorry! I didn't mean for this to happen. You have to believe me when I say that! I always cared for you, but I was blindsided by my stubbornness. If you had told me of what you were going through during even one of your owls then I could have attempted to help."  
  
"I did! I told you of what my family had planned and of the heritage I was coming from. Did you even read my owls or did you just trash them or recycle them as extra parchment to write to me about Hermione Granger with?"  
  
"I'm sorry! How many more times do you need me to tell you that I was very much mistaken? I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm SORRY!"  
  
"You have nothing to be sorry for as I am the one who joined Voldemort. I am here though. Look into my eyes when I say this: I have thought about everything and I am risking everything. This was not my plan, but my plans changed when I saw you on Christmas. I couldn't stand not seeing you. If I had to fight with the Deatheaters and they asked me to kill you or even hurt you, I would have been killed myself for refusing. I am here for my best friend, I am here to save Draco, but most of all I am here for you!" She exclaimed as the countdown they had been yelling through ended and a loud buzzer rang to announce midnight.  
  
"I'm sorry you had to go through all this. I didn't think I had any effect on you. Are you truly giving up your family, your teachings, everything, for our side, for me?"  
  
"I am."  
  
"I love you."  
  
"I love you." She echoed as she saw couples still kissing from inside and outside. She looked at him and smiled her first true smile.  
  
And as the night had not a single white flake of snow in the appealing clouds that seemed to be sleeping in the contrasting black night sky, the stars lit up with a smile forming and preparing themselves for a new year they would be alive, and the moonlight streamed from the sky onto the partly solid lake giving it a look of crystals under a magnifying glass, Ron kissed Lily.  
  
A/N: I'm not gettin the reviews I need so I can't post the ending yet. 


	14. A Maze in The Mist

A/N: Finished July 9th. Oh god guys... It's the last chapter before the epilogue. I might have a sequel or I might not.. I dunno whatever. Anyway here it is. Enjoy  
  
Chapter 14: A Maze in the Mist  
  
Draco stepped out of the shadows and made his way back to the double doors that led to the corridor where the Great Hall was. He had gotten his best friend and one of his former worst enemies together. Then it hit him: Former.  
  
Did he truly consider his war with Ron Weasley and Harry Potter over? He had so many reasons why he loathed Potter and Weasley. Jealousy was of course the main reason. He could admit it to himself, and that was the first step to making things right.  
  
Snape. Snape became a Deatheater and did things much worse than he had. While Draco had murdered one or two people, Snape had tortured Muggles, raped Witches, killed countless amounts of people! Snape redeemed himself, didn't he? He became a spy for Dumbledore and risked his life to save Potter and countless amounts of people. Did he save more people than he had killed in cold blood? If Snape could make things 'right' then couldn't he, Draco, do some right in the world.  
  
'How quickly the might have fallen.' Draco mused to himself. He was the king of Slytherin, the future ruler of Voldemort's army, his father's puppet, owner of half the world! How quick was he to think about giving it up with all its glory just to make things 'right'.  
  
What was that anyway? Who judged whether something was right or whether something was wrong? Who had that kind of authority? Who dared to get in the way of Lucius Malfoy when he was angry? Then it hit Draco: He did. He judged for himself whether something was right or whether something was wrong.  
  
Deatheaters killed countless amounts of people. They had a conscience all right. If Draco had a conscience, everyone had a conscience. They judged for themselves that what they were doing was appropriate. That was the difference between Malfoy junior and Malfoy senior. That was what Blaise was trying to show him all along. That's what Hermione had taught him.  
  
What was right for Draco right now? Not the quoted right either but the real right? He had to fix things he had broken, and if he couldn't fix them, he had to make up for them. So what was on Draco's list? Hermione. He procrastinated and went to find Potter.  
  
He saw him in the corner snogging the younger Weasley. Draco snorted loudly but thought of no insult. He would talk to him tomorrow. For now he had to speak with Dumbledore.  
  
Dumbledore. What would he say to Dumbledore exactly? 'Hey, Dumbly, what's up? You're doing good I hope, but anyway, I came here to tell you that even though I've been a bastard for the last 17 years of my life I've decided that I want to work for the Order of the Phoenix because I've made friends with a Mudblood girl I used to want to kill. Oh, by the way, FYI, I made up with Weasley and will make up with Potter later on.' Even in his head, that didn't sound right.  
  
"Draco?" A voice brought him out of his thoughts. He looked up with a grim expression to see none other than the Mudblood. Wasn't that just wonderful.  
  
"Yes?" He asked as he smiled up at her. He groaned and his expression dropped back to what it was. It was her fault he had changed.  
  
In the beginning of the year he wanted nothing more than to kill her, Potter, and Weasley. He wanted to help the Dark side conquer over Dumbledore and slap the twinkle out of the old man's eyes. What happened to him? What happened to the Malfoy inside of him? She happened.  
  
She talked to him and made him feel comfortable and loved. He felt loved. Never in his life had Draco seen such comfort in someone caring for him because he didn't think his parents ever honestly cared.  
  
She was willing to forgive. She forgave him for six years of torture without even thinking of an ulterior motive. She didn't think he had an ulterior motive, and to be honest he found such great comfort in that. Then again, it also made him feel bad because he had an ulterior motive, an ulterior motive that was set up by his best friend who had an ulterior motive himself.  
  
Blaise's words echoed in his mind: 'your arguments, your skills, your brains! You and she get along! By Merlin, I wanted you to see the light. You LOVE her.' He didn't love her. How could he love her?  
  
She had a light that burned as bright as the heavens in her eyes. She wasn't naïve, yet, she was trusting. She opened her heart, her mind, and her soul to be broken apart in a million pieces. She had seen things that would make people cringe in fear or call for their parents, but she never gave up. She never gave up on Potter. People would have run away from him. People DID run away from him. Everyone thought he was a psychotic mental patient who belonged at St. Mungos. She stuck by him.  
  
How could he love someone whose soul was so pure? Draco didn't even have a soul anymore. It was gone in the abyss of an ocean millions of miles away, deep under coral, sunk with ships, doomed to never be found again. She had never done anything wrong in her life besides breaking school rules. She never hurt anyone who didn't deserve it. She was brave and loyal. She was, in a nutshell, perfect.  
  
"Have you seen Blaise?" She asked him with her brown eyes looking questioningly down at Draco.  
  
"I had to talk to him maybe forty minutes ago. I haven't seen him since." He said truthfully.  
  
"What are you hiding?" She asked him. He sighed but shook his head, "Draco tell me."  
  
"It doesn't matter right now. I do want you to know that I'm sorry about everything."  
  
"You've already told me." She said suspiciously as she sat down beside him and put her hand on his arm.  
  
"You're making this far too hard for me. I guess I deserve this being hard." Draco said as she shot him a curious glance, "In the beginning of the year I thought of you as just a Muggleborn below me. I guess I never truly knew you or really cared to know you.  
  
"I had no feelings and I thought my future was set for me to become a Deatheater along with my father. I thought I would be forced to participate in a war I do not want to be part of. I was afraid I would lose everything I cared for. Everyone I thought I cared for.  
  
"Blaise propositioned me with this bet. It was a bet to see who could…erm… who could bed you first." She looked stunned but waved him on to continue with a rage in her eyes, "So Blaise and I each went our own ways to try and erm… seduce you. In the process of it, I tried to tell myself that I didn't care for you at all. I tried to convince myself that I didn't care. I guess it worked because I could still stand being with you and going on with the bet.  
  
"Slowly though I became jealous of what Blaise was doing. He liked you even before the bet, or I thought he did. Then that night with Potter. He said you were his and I snapped. I used what I was taught, what I thought to be my destiny. You ignored me, and my heart broke. Still I hid any feelings.  
  
"After that I went on. I had to find a way to get back in the game. I was a Malfoy then, and Malfoys cared about winning. I was a Slytherin and Slytherins played dirty. Blaise and I had made a set of rules, a kind of contract you could call it. No using alcohol, drugs, spells on you, potions, or on each other. I found a loophole I didn't realize I had written in. It said that I could not put a spell or potion on you or a curse, spell or potion on Blaise. It didn't say I couldn't curse you.  
  
"I went to the only person I knew would ask no questions but had to comply. We couldn't tell anyone of the bet, so I had to find someone who already knew of it. Snape gave me a curse and a timeline to use it. The curse, however powerful it may be, was only undetectable because it was wandless.  
  
"You know that wandless magic was only weak, but this curse was powerful. It was a curse to bring out the person's outer feelings. I needed a trap to get you to be jealous enough to get sexually frustrated. The only way was to have you walk in on myself and someone else in the act of intercourse. The question was who? Who would be powerful enough for you to be in a fit of jealousy? I wasn't about to turn homosexual and bed Potter or Weasley. Then it hit me, Weasley: Ginny Weasley.  
  
"She was just a pawn in my plot. I lured her into being sexually frustrated herself by seeing me half naked and dripping wet. I won't go into the details of how I managed that. I thought, how do Gryffindors think? What is the average Gryffindor vulnerable to? Comfort and compassion was the answer sitting right in front of my face.  
  
"I told her I was jealous of you and she comforted me. Comfort and compassion would be her downfall. What happened afterward, you saw. I only then had to play my cards right and catch you in your most jealous rage. I cursed you then. What I had overlooked, however, were a few side effects that I didn't care about.  
  
"I felt terrible. I had come to truly care for you. When I saw your face, I cared, and that strengthened the curse. What I overlooked was that if the curse had been cast with the true feelings of the recipient already that much magnified, the curse did nothing. You cared about me that much.  
  
"I took the curse off of you. Some things happened to someone I cared for like a sister. She had told me of her story of how she loved and put herself out on the line to be heartbroken. She did everything for Ron Weasley. She didn't care if she got hurt in the process. She was the reason Viktor broke up with you in your sixth year. She wanted Ron to be happy even if he wasn't with her.  
  
"She told me her whole story and how her heart was broken in the end. I had to do something. I had to make things right. By that point I had grown something I never thought I would have: A conscience. I felt bad even if that wasn't my fault. When I saw them together, I realized, how can I set you up for the same kind of misery she had gone through when I cared for you that much? I couldn't. I lifted the curse.  
  
"If Blaise truly loved you, then I wouldn't stand in his way. I blew up the contract, and he seemed mad. He seemed angry at me for trying to make things good for him. Me, The Draco Malfoy, The Slytherin Prince, Owner of Malfoy Cooperation and half the world, had been set up. He had wanted me to see the truth.  
  
"Slowly I had begun to pull away from my father's ways, the Deatheater ways, the teachings I had been taught. I had begun to think for myself and I even promised myself, Blaise did too that we would never use another Unforgivable. Without realizing it, I had learned that I was not a Malfoy. I was Draco, my own person who could make his own decisions. I could decide for myself what was right. You know what was right for me? To seek redemption.  
  
"Don't you see? Blaise set me up for it all! He set me up for you! You changed me! You made me the person who I am today in just six months. Look at how much power you have, Hermione Jane Granger! You, the light in your soul, the jump in your step, you made me over as if I was clay for you to mold.  
  
"Along with all my friends, my true real friends, I began to think for myself. I am willing to put everything on the line. I refuse to have anything to do with my father. I am my own person. I'm sorry for everything I have done, but I do not regret it. I thank you for everything. I hope that someday you will forgive me and we can be friends." Draco said as he stood and walked outside.  
  
"Draco!" She yelled after him, but he was nowhere to be found. "I need to know! I need to know for myself! Do you love me?" She yelled out as everyone outside looked at her, including a very cozy looking Lily and Ron, and a chummy looking Blaise and Marijana.  
  
He looked back at her and walked to her with a smile on her face, "I wasn't sure if I did before. I know now. After telling my own story and listening to it, my heart seemed to be torn down."  
  
"Do you love me?" She repeated as a tear dropped down her face.  
  
"I care about you more than I thought it was possible to care for someone. At this point, I would give my life for you. What is love?" He asked honestly.  
  
"Love is what you just described. Love is you willing to give everything for someone."  
  
"I love you, Hermione." He said with a sweet smile as she looked into his eyes.  
  
"I love you, too."  
  
As those words echoed through his ears his eyes were visible.  
  
Walls of blue tore down into an ocean that decomposed them into life. A maze lay beyond that had its obstacles quickly disappearing into the wind. The center was a place that could not have been reached unless given the permission. The permission was granted and a path was uncovered with signs pointing into the heart. The Maze in the Mist had been penetrated and within it were no secrets, lies, or deception, only forgiveness and redemption. The Maze in the Mist was no longer visible.  
  
Fin  
  
A/N: Epilogue next 


	15. Epilogue

A/N: Finished July 7th. Thanks to all of my reviewers. Sequel or not? I'm not sure. Anyway I dedicate this last chapter to my one and only baby, my dog Roko. :)  
  
Epilogue: Redemption  
  
"Blaise! Where the hell are you? You said you were meeting me at the restaurant! I was there and they said we had no reservations!" Draco yelled out as he apparated into Blaise's flat. It was dark… Too dark.  
  
Three years after the final war. He had fought alongside Dumbledore. It was hard to let go of everything he had: His money, his ways, his whole life had to start over. His father? He had been killed by Draco in a dual.  
  
"Lumos." Draco said getting out his wand. The small light on his wand was treated with someone putting on the main lights in the flat.  
  
"Surprise!" He heard a few dozen people yell out as he saw them gathering around him. Draco couldn't help himself from smiling as he saw people he hadn't seen in quite some time along with people he saw almost daily.  
  
"21 years old, Draco. It wouldn't do to have you go to a restaurant with a few people." Blaise said as he clapped his friend on the back.  
  
"Isn't it a bit immature not to tell me about it though?" Draco replied simply as the people around him snickered.  
  
"We never got our chance to be immature, so here it is." Blaise said as he lost himself in the crowd.  
  
"Draco, happy legal drinking age in the states. Whine?" Harry asked him as he handed him a glass.  
  
"Six months older than you, Harry. Cheers." He said as he clicked his glass against his friend's.  
  
At first Harry had refused to believe that Draco had changed. It was not until the final war that Draco killed his own father to save Lucius from cursing Harry that Harry actually believed he had changed. Harry had used every once of knowledge he had gained in the Department of Mysteries, including almost stepping inside the veil to talk to Sirius, to defeat Voldemort. He had done so successfully and his wand had backfired leaving him between a state of life and death. He had almost died had it not been for Hermione. What happened then between Harry and Draco? Ancient history.  
  
"Cheers. When can I expect a niece or nephew from you and Hermione?" Harry asked as he smirked Draco's old trademark smirk. Draco got used to the fact that Hermione would always love Harry and Ron just as much as him. He was always used to the fact that when he had children they would be calling those two 'Uncle Ronny' and 'Uncle Harry'.  
  
"I dunno, mate. We're having fun trying though." Draco said knowing that the expression of disgust on his face would be normal. The second that Harry actually gave Ginny a chance, they fell for each other. His little crush on Hermione was long over as he now had a bride of his own to take care of. Hermione was like a sister to him.  
  
"That's way too much information. You two have been wed for one and a half years now. If Ginny and I were married that long we'd have a child running around by now. I'd have wed her already if it weren't for Ron needing to be in every step of our relationship. I'd like to see his face on the Honeymoon." Harry said laughing as he clicked his glass of wine against Draco's again. Draco couldn't help himself and laughed. Engaged for three months, the wedding for those two was set by Molly Weasley for August 19th.  
  
Harry left him shortly before he saw none other than Ron and Lily. He smirked at the way Ron's hand was placed on her back, "Happy birthday, Draco. Ron! Do you honestly feel the need to hang on to me like I'm going to break?!? For Merlin's sake I'm not dying!" She barked at him.  
  
Ron looked down and mumbled an apology with puffy bags under his eyes. Draco smirked and said, "It's a bit sweet though. Don't be too hard on him Lily." for the poor bloke's protection.  
  
Lily's face did a 180º turn and said, "I'm sorry honey. You are just the sweetest husband a woman could have. I love you." Ron kissed Lily and she hugged Draco and walked away.  
  
"Happy Birthday, mate. Two months pregnant and she's already screaming at me for pickles with ice cream. She's also screaming at me for being involved with Harry and Ginny's relationship, buying that estate just out of Auror training, and just about every other reason she can think of. Here's to three years of marriage and the second when my son or daughter goes to Hogwarts." Ron said as he clasped Draco on the back and clicked his glass with him.  
  
"Best of luck. Harry was getting on to me for not getting Hermione pregnant. Now I'm a bit glad she's not." Draco said smirking as Ron's eyes got big as he heard his wife call him, "Good luck."  
  
"Ginny?" Draco asked as the redhead turned around to wish him a happy birthday. Draco had long apologized to her and though their relationship had an awkward air about it, it was broken the second she was Hermione's bridesmaid at the wedding.  
  
The wedding had been perfect. Getting a lot of inspiration from Ron and Lily's wedding which had happened literally right out of school, Draco had planned and proposed to Hermione on New Year's Eve at midnight, under the oak tree by the Hogwarts lake. Where had the ceremony been held a year later? Godric's Hollow. Hermione only had a single bridesmaid while Draco had two best men: Blaise and Ron. Where was Harry? In a Wizarding ceremony Muggles could not have a part but may have been present. Harry gave Hermione away.  
  
"Have you seen Hermione? She wished me a happy birthday this morning at the manner, but I haven't seen her since." Draco asked curiously as he received a sly smirk from Ginny.  
  
"You'll find out." She said as she got lost in the crowd. Draco frowned deeply as he was approached by Marijana.  
  
"Happy 21st." Marijana said as she took her glass and clicked it against Draco's. "Remember how we all got here?" She asked in remembrance as her eyes got a far away look.  
  
"You were the one who showed me I could back out even with all my family's expectations. I blame you." Draco said with a smile as a laugh escaped his lips. She slapped his shoulder playfully, "Do you know where Hermione is?" Draco asked her curiously.  
  
"Well, she's at-" She was cut off by Blaise bringing her around and kissing her deeply. She giggled when he broke off, still hanging on to him, "I can't say, Draco." She managed to get out before taking Blaise in another kiss. No engagement announcement for them yet, which was different since wizards usually married right out of school, but they wanted to take it slow. Draco was expecting the Wedding invitation soon, though.  
  
He mingled with a few more guests before looking at the clock on Blaise's wall. It was approaching nine and Hermione was nowhere to be found. His eyebrows creased in worry.  
  
He snuck into Blaise's bedroom and sat down on the bed, his head in his hands. Where was she? She would never abandon him on his birthday. What if she had finally realized he still hadn't redeemed himself enough to be with her? What if she had found someone better and used his party as the perfect excuse to get rid of him?  
  
He shook his head and stood up to look at himself in the mirror. He was just thinking the worst. She would be here. She would be perfectly fine.  
  
"Draco? What's up?" Blaise asked him as Draco felt a hand on his shoulder.  
  
"Where's Hermione?" Draco asked instead.  
  
"Don't freak out. You'll be surprised." Blaise said secretively as he smiled at Draco and led him into the living room.  
  
"Happy birthday, Draco." Terry Boot said he clicked his glass against Draco's like a set pattern. What got Draco freaked out was that they knew something he didn't. He growled and thanked him.  
  
"Mate, you just got an urgent owl from St. Mungos. They said they need your opinion on a patient. The head Healer said room 749." Blaise said walking up to Draco with a smirk.  
  
"On my birthday? I specifically took the night off." Draco said as he apparated to the specific room.  
  
He saw the room empty except for one curtained off area. He didn't bother calling for the Head Healer as he walked to the curtains and opened them harshly.  
  
"Happy birthday, Draco." Hermione said.  
  
Then it clicked Draco. This was a maternity ward. He almost fell onto the bed in surprise. "We're having a- you're pregnant?"  
  
"I was having some morning sickness. I didn't want to panic you so I a few days ago. One month along." Hermione said as Draco let tears fall down his eyes as he leaned over and kissed Hermione, "It's a boy."  
  
"A boy?" Draco asked as he leaned over and kissed Hermione again, taking care to not put pressure on her stomach. "Name?" Draco asked as he put his wand to her stomach.  
  
"I was thinking-" She paused and smiled at him, "Emerson."  
  
"Emerson Draco Malfoy."  
  
Fin Fine  
  
A/N: Cheers 


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